Macroscopic
|
Macroscopic means measurable and observable by the naked eye; describes existence as we perceive it.
For instance, a macroscopic view of a ball is just that: a ball. A microscopic view could reveal a thick round skin seemingly composed entirely of puckered cracks and fissures (as viewed through a microscope); or further down in scale, a collection of molecules in the rough shape of a sphere.
In physics, macroscopy is usually taken relative to what one is observing. If one looks at a galaxy, a star is a microscopic entity, even if it's many, many orders of magnitude larger than the aforementioned ball.
The term macroscopic may also refer to a "larger view": a view only available from a large and giant perspective. A macroscopic position could be considered the "big picture".