Physical properties are about what properties that particular kind of matter, be it a material or a subatomic particle, has in itself. This is things like charge, melting point, mass, density....
http://www.chem.tamu.edu/class/majors/tutorialnotefiles/intext.htm
Yes- properties of matter that do not change, such as density, are called characteristic properties.
Chemistry
The study of properties of matter and how it changes is called chemistry.