The Macroscopic Scale

The macroscopic scale involves substances that are large enough to be visible to the human eye (without the help of optical instruments to provide a magnified view). Some important quantities that are dealt with on the macroscopic scale include:

• Melting and boiling points
• The coefficient of linear thermal expansion
• Latent heat of vaporisation
• Enthalpy of fusion

Considering the example of a water molecule, the macroscopic scale involves its physical state (solid, liquid or gaseous) but does not deal with the chemistry of the H₂O molecule.