A new factor M is proposed to characterize the similarity of the behavior of a partially coherent beam (PCB) to its coherent counterpart when propagating through atmospheric turbulence. It is shown that there exists a boundary in the range of the source coherent length. The decreasing rates of free space angular spreading and of turbulence distance with the source coherent length are different before and after the coherent length arriving at the boundary value, by which the change trend of M can be concluded.