system

Scales of Analysis

continuum

molecular

Remarks on length scales of analysis

System (macroscopic) scale

Continuum (microscopic) scale

Molecular scale

note separation of scales; some overlap analysis at the continuum scale is a local average of the molecular description

Remarks on length scales of analysis

Characteristic molecular dimension

Local Averaging

l d

key properties at r are determined by averaging molecular properties over v

x

Actually, the local averaging process is more involved than this The details of this local averaging are not needed to develop an adequate continuum picture