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Foundations of Chemistry

Extensive Property

A property whose value is directly proportional to the quantity of matter in the sample.

Unit Various

In depth

Extensive properties are additive: combining two samples adds their values. They must be normalised — divided by mass, volume or amount — before they can be used to compare substances, which is exactly how molar and specific quantities are defined.

Examples in the real world

Mass, volume, total energy, enthalpy, entropy, heat capacity and the number of moles present.