Microstates and macrostates

Microstates and macrostates are terms used in thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. A **macrostate** describes the overall state of a system, defined by measurable properties like temperature and pressure. In contrast, a **microstate** refers to the specific details of the system's components at a microscopic level, such as the exact positions and energies of individual particles. Many microstates can correspond to the same macrostate; for example, a gas can have countless arrangements of its molecules while still reaching the same temperature. Understanding this distinction helps explain how large systems behave based on their microscopic interactions.