Ageochemist examines a piece of metal that he found in the soil. he performs tests to identify the metal from its density, electrical conductivity, and melting point. which statement best describes his investigation?

a) he is determined physical properties that are sufficient to identify the metal
b) he is determining chemical properties that are sufficient to identify the metal
c) he is determined physical properties that are insufficient to identify the metal
d) he is determined chemical properties that are insufficient to identify the metal

The correct answer is: A.

Explanation:

To answer the question we must review the concept of characteristic property:

The characteristic or intensive properties are those that do not depend on the amount of matter that it contains, but on the properties that these present. They are the ideal properties to identify and classify pure substances.

To identify, we would have to resort to characteristic properties such as density, boiling point, melting point and electrical conductivity, since these will tell us precisely the properties that presents each material. These properties are physical properties because they can be measured without affecting the composition of the material.