Extensive Property

Real World Example

Imagine trying to decide how many pizzas to order for a party. Just like the number of pizzas you need depends on the number of guests you're expecting, an extensive property depends on the amount of matter in a sample. The more people you have, the more pizza you need; similarly, the more matter you have, the greater the mass or length of the sample. Here, the guests are analogous to the amount of matter, and the pizzas represent the extensive property, illustrating how both increase with the scale of what's being measured or provided.