The key difference between macroscopic and microscopic properties is that macroscopic properties are the properties of matter in bulk whereas microscopic properties are properties of the constituents of matter in bulk.
The term microscopic refers to anything that is invisible to the naked eye. Therefore, microscopic properties refer to the properties of matter at microscopic level. However, the term macroscopic refers to the things we can see with the naked eye. Thus, macroscopic properties are the properties of matter in the visible level. Moreover, the units of measurement are different for these two types of properties.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What are Macroscopic Properties
3. What are Microscopic Properties
4. Side by Side Comparison – Macroscopic vs Microscopic Properties in Tabular Form
5. Summary
What are Macroscopic Properties?
Macroscopic properties of matter are the properties in bulk matter. These properties arise according to how the constituents of matter are arranged in the matter and how the particles are held together. These are properties that can be visualized by the naked eye; thus, we can take measurements easily. Some common examples of macroscopic properties include pressure, volume, temperature, etc.
Figure 01: Gas Pressure – a Macroscopic Property
For example, if we consider diamond and graphite, both these structures are made out of only carbon atoms, but the spatial arrangement of these carbon atoms are different from each other. Therefore their macroscopic properties are also different from each other; the density and hardness of a diamond are very high compared to graphite and volume of the two structures is different if we consider similar masses because they have different densities. These differences in the properties arise due to the different arrangements of carbon atoms and the different chemical bonds that hold them together.
What are Microscopic Properties?
Microscopic properties are properties of the constituents of bulk matter. That means; these are the properties of atoms, ions or molecules of matter which build up the matter. These constituents are invisible to the naked eye; therefore, the units of measurement are also different from that of the macroscopic scale. For example, the measurements are taken in millimetres, micrometres, nanometers, picometers, etc.
What is the Difference Between Macroscopic and Microscopic Properties?
The term “macroscopic” refers to large things that are visible to the naked eye while the term “microscopic” refers to tiny things which are invisible to the naked eye. Hence, the key difference between macroscopic and microscopic properties is that macroscopic properties are the properties of matter in bulk, whereas microscopic properties are properties of the constituents of matter in bulk. In other words, microscopic properties are invisible to the naked eye, but macroscopic properties are visible to the naked eye.
Moreover, the units of measurement for these properties are also different; for macroscopic properties, the unit of measurement is on a scale that is visible to the naked eye. This includes centi-, kilo-, mega-, etc. For microscopic properties, the unit of measurement is on a scale that is invisible to the naked eye and includes milli-, micro-, nano-, pico-, etc.
Summary – Macroscopic vs Microscopic Properties
The term “macroscopic” refers to large things that are visible to the naked eye. The term “microscopic” refers to tiny things which are invisible to the naked eye. Hence, the key difference between macroscopic and microscopic properties is that macroscopic properties are the properties of matter in bulk whereas microscopic properties are properties of the constituents of matter in bulk. In other words, microscopic properties are invisible to the naked eye but macroscopic properties are visible to the naked eye.
Reference:
1. “Macroscopic Properties.” Definition of Macroscopic Properties in Chemistry., Available here.
2. “2.1: Macroscopic Properties & Microscopic Models.” Chemistry LibreTexts, Libretexts, 6 Aug. 2019, Available here.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Gas pressure and volume illustration” By Siyavula Education (CC BY 2.0) via Flickr