Macroscopic scale - such scale, in which the structures can be seen with a naked eye (i.e. without a microscope), or in a wider sense a scale over which the microscopic details can be neglected.¹⁾ Mesoscopic scale is and intermediate between the two.²⁾

“Macroscopic” and “microscopic” scales are relative to each other

^{S. Zurek, E-Magnetica.pl, CC-BY-4.0}

In even more generic sense, a macroscopic view is such that a smaller-scale effects can be neglected, averaged out, smoothed or otherwise simplified in a given type of analysis.³⁾⁴⁾

Technically, it is incorrect to refer to atomic scale as “microscopic” because the atoms cannot be seen under a microscope. But atoms are “extremely small” in in this sense the generic word is justified.⁵⁾ Therefore, “macroscopic” is a scale which is “significantly” larger, than a chosen “microscopic” scale.

For example, mechanical properties can be analysed from a macroscopic viewpoint, so that average density and strength of a block of concrete can be calculated or measured, without resorting to analysis of the individual constituent particles (such as sand or cement powder). At the same scale, analysis of individual grains of sand could be considered as microscopic.

On the other hand, grains of sand can be analysed by treating them as large-scale crystals of quartz, and this could be assumed to be macroscopic, when compared to the individual molecules of quartz or size of atoms, which would then represent another level of microscopic scale.

Atoms can be further subdivided into protons, neutrons and electrons, and so on.

Hence, the adjective “macroscopic” should be considered to be relative to “microscopic” and the scales in the absolute sense depend on the size of analysed objects or phenomena.

Some authors use the name mesoscopic to refer to an intermediate scale between “macroscopic” (bulk properties of materials) and “microscopic” (atoms). Although still being relative, mesoscopic scale is sometimes defined in absolute terms to involved dimensions between 10 and 1000 nm.

In electromagnetism there are many scales over which the magnetic effects can be considered to be macroscopic or microscopic, depending on the relative sizes under consideration.

Scale	Example of subjects of phenomena to be considered
Smaller than electron	String theory
Electron	Electric charge, magnetic spin moment
Quark, gluon	Quantum chromodynamics
Proton, neutron	Electric charge
Nucleus	Nuclear force
Electron subshell	Electron-electron interaction
Electron shell	Electron-nucleus interaction
Atom	Atomic and chemical properties
Molecule	Chemical properties
Atom-atom or molecule-molecule interaction	Type of magnetism, crystal
Multi-molecule or multi-atom ordering	Magnetic domain
Material	Soft, semi-hard, and hard magnetic materials, superconductor
Object	Magnetic core, magnet, conductor
Circuit	Beam of particles, wire, coil
Device	Sensor, transformer, motor
Installation	Electric installation in a building
Building	Magnetic field of conductors
Structure	Telecommunication, Electricity grid
Meteorite, meteor, planetoid	Muonionalusta meteorite
Ore	Magnetite
Atmospheric events	Lightning
Continent	Paleomagnetism
Planet	Earth's magnetic field
Star	Coronal mass ejection, pulsar
Black hole	Hawking radiation
Planetary system	Solar wind
Supernova	Gamma-ray burst
Galaxy	Dark matter, dark energy
Galaxy cluster	Intracluster medium
Universe	Big bang

• Order of magnitude