Physical property

Physical property

A physical property is any aspect of an object or substance that can be measured or perceived without changing its identity. Physical properties can be intensive or extensive. An intensive property does not depend on the size or amount of matter in the object, while an extensive property does. In addition to extensiveness, properties can also be either isotropic if their values do not depend on the direction of observation or anisotropic otherwise. Physical properties are referred to as observables. It is not a modal property.Examples of physical properties are sublimation, odor, color, and shape.

Often, it is difficult to determine whether a given property is physical or not. Color, for example, can be "seen"; however, what we perceive as color is really an interpretation of the reflective properties of a surface. In this sense, many ostensibly physical properties are termed as "supervenient". A supervenient property is one which is actual (for dependence on the reflective properties of a surface is not simply imagined), but is secondary to some underlying reality. This is similar to the way in which objects are supervenient on atomic structure. A "cup" might have the physical properties of mass, shape, color, temperature, etc., but these properties are supervenient on the underlying atomic structure, which may in turn be supervenient on an underlying quantum structure.

In the common sense, physical properties can be separated from nonphysical properties. Typically a nonphysical property is associated with a living being, for instance as with the mental states of anger or love.

The physical properties of an object are defined traditionally in a Newtonian sense; the physical properties an object might have include:


* absorption
* acceleration
* angle
* area
* capacitance
* concentration
* conductance
* density
* dielectric
* displacement
* ductility
* distribution
* efficacy
* electric charge
* electric current
* electric field
* electric potential
* emission
* energy
* expansion
* exposure
* flow rate
* fluidity
* frequency
* force
* gravitation
* impedance
* inductance
* intensity
* irradiance
* length
* location
* luminance
* magnetic field
* magnetic flux
* mass
* molality
* moment
* momentum
* permeability
* permittivity
* power
* pressure
* radiance
* solubility
* luster
* resistance
* spin
* strength
* temperature
* tension
* thermal transfer
* time
* velocity
* viscosity
* volume

ee also

* Chemical property
* Physical quantity


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • physical property — noun any property used to characterize matter and energy and their interactions (Freq. 2) • Hypernyms: ↑property • Hyponyms: ↑absorptivity, ↑absorption factor, ↑dissolubility, ↑solubleness, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • physical property — /fɪzəkəl ˈprɒpəti/ (say fizuhkuhl propuhtee) noun a property of a substance which can be measured without changing the composition of a substance, as colour …  

  • Property — is any physical or virtual entity that is owned by an individual. An owner of property has the right to consume, sell, mortgage, transfer and exchange his or her property.cite web|url=http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/property.html|titl… …   Wikipedia

  • physical — I adjective actual, bodily, carnal, concrete, corporal, corporeal, corporeous, earthly, embodied, external, flesh and blood, fleshly, human, incarnate, material, materiate, mundane, natural, nonspiritual, organic, palpable, real, sensible,… …   Law dictionary

  • Property derivatives — General DefinitionA property derivative is a financial derivative whose value is derived from the value of an underlying real estate asset. In practice, because real estate assets fall victim to market inefficiencies and are hard to accurately… …   Wikipedia

  • Physical quantity — A physical quantity is a physical property that can be quantified. This means it can be measured and/or calculated and expressed in numbers. The value of a physical quantity Q is expressed as the product of a numerical value { Q } and a physical… …   Wikipedia

  • Property (conflict) — In Conflict of Laws, the subject of Property Law follows the terminology of the civil law systems out of Comity. Hence, there are two types of property: * Immovables is the equivalent of real property in common law systems, i.e. it is land or any …   Wikipedia

  • physical quantity — noun A physical property that can be measured or calculated from other physical property and expressed as the product of a numerical value and a physical unit …   Wiktionary

  • physical value — noun cost of reproducing physical property minus various allowances (especially depreciation) • Syn: ↑reproduction cost • Hypernyms: ↑cost * * * noun : the cost of reproduction of physical property less depreciation and other allowances as of a… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Property Rights — Laws created by governments in regards to how individuals can control, benefit from and transfer property. Economic theory contends that government enforcement of strong property rights is a determinant regarding the level of economic success… …   Investment dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”