microphysics

American  

[mahy-kruh-fiz-iks] / ˌmaɪ krəˈfɪz ɪks /

noun

(used with a singular verb)

1. the branch of physics dealing with physical objects that are not large enough to be observed and treated directly, as elementary particles, atoms, and molecules.

---

microphysics British  

/ ˌmaɪkrəʊˈfɪzɪks /

noun

1. (functioning as singular) the branch of physics concerned with small objects and systems, such as atoms, molecules, nuclei, and elementary particles

---

Other Word Forms

• microphysical adjective

Etymology

Origin of microphysics

First recorded in 1880–85; micro- + physics

Example Sentences

Cloud thickening and thinning, though taking place on more regional scales, rely altering the microphysics of clouds, long the wild card of climate change projections.

From Science Magazine • Mar. 25, 2021

There are some theories that allow more than a googol of different vacuum states, in each of which the microphysics would be different.

From Scientific American • Mar. 17, 2018

Science was moving from a world of macrophysics, where objects could be seen and held and measured, to one of microphysics, where events transpire with unimaginable swiftness on scales far below the limits of imagining.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

It takes some getting accustomed to the fact that the minuscule times and distances of microphysics as well as the vastness of astronomical phenomena share the dimensions of our human world.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos