Editing Microscopic scale (section)

{{Short description|Objects too small to be seen unaided}}
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{{redirect|Microscopic|the EP by Download|Microscopic (EP){{!}}''Microscopic'' (EP)|not to be confused with|Microscopy|and|Microscope (disambiguation)}}
{{distinguish|Macroscopic scale}}
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The '''microscopic scale''' ({{etymology|grc|''{{wikt-lang|grc|μικρός}}'' ({{grc-transl|μικρός}})|small||''{{wikt-lang|grc|σκοπέω}}'' ({{grc-transl|σκοπέω}})|to look (at); examine, inspect}}) is the scale of objects and events smaller than those that can easily be seen by the [[naked eye]], requiring a [[lens (optics)|lens]] or [[microscope]] to see them clearly.<ref name="Waikato">{{cite web|title=The microscopic scale|url=http://sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/Exploring-with-Microscopes/Science-Ideas-and-Concepts/The-microscopic-scale|website=Science Learning Hub|publisher=The University of Waikato|access-date=31 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420102701/http://sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/Exploring-with-Microscopes/Science-Ideas-and-Concepts/The-microscopic-scale|archive-date=20 April 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In [[physics]], the microscopic scale is sometimes regarded as the scale between the [[macroscopic scale]] and the [[quantum scale]].<ref name="What in the quantum world is macr">{{cite journal|last1=Jaeger|first1=Gregg|title=What in the (quantum) world is macroscopic?|journal=American Journal of Physics|date=September 2014|volume=82|issue=9|pages=896–905|doi=10.1119/1.4878358|bibcode = 2014AmJPh..82..896J }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Reif|first=F.|title=Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal Physics|year=1965|publisher=McGraw-Hill|location=Boston|isbn=007-051800-9|edition=International student|page=[https://archive.org/details/fundamentalsofst00fred/page/2 2]|quote=We shall call a system {{'}}''micro''scopic' (i.e., {{'}}''small'' scale') if it is roughly of atomic dimensions or smaller (say of the order of 10 [[Angstrom|Å]] or less).|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/fundamentalsofst00fred/page/2}}</ref> Microscopic units and measurements are used to classify and describe very small objects. One common microscopic [[length scale]] unit is the [[micrometre]] (also called a ''micron'') (symbol: μm), which is one millionth of a [[metre]].