- Material things include objects, living organisms, and even intangible things such as sound or light, which are considered material because they are made up of particles.
- An attribute of an object is called a property if it can be measured or observed through the senses (e.g. its colour, size, weight, odour, taste, and location).
- Objects can be identified or characterized through their properties, which manifest themselves in various ways.
- These manifestations often exhibit consistent patterns, indicating that there is a underlying cause or mechanism that governs the properties.
- For example when different metals are mixed to form alloys, such as bronze or steel, the resulting material often exhibits a consistent relationship between its composition (the types and proportions of metals) and its density. So increasing the percentage of a denser metal in an alloy tends to increase its overall density.