Question

67. explain why mass cannot be used as a property to identify a sample of matter.

Explanation:

Mass is the amount of matter in an object. It depends on the quantity of the sample. For example, a larger piece of gold and a smaller piece of gold have different masses, but they are the same substance. Also, different substances can have the same mass (e.g., 1 kg of feathers and 1 kg of lead have the same mass but are different materials). So mass is an extensive property (depends on amount) and doesn't uniquely identify a substance, unlike intensive properties (like density, melting point) that are independent of amount.

Answer:

Mass is an extensive property (depends on the amount of matter). Different quantities of the same substance have different masses, and different substances can have the same mass. Thus, mass alone cannot identify a sample of matter (intensive properties like density, melting point, etc., which are independent of amount, are better for identification).