The distribution of particle dimensions in an ensemble, with number-, volume- or intensity-weighting specified. Broad size distributions can broaden a melting transition, frustrate colloidal crystallization and bias scattering-based size estimates. A mean size alone is then insufficient.
A spread of particle or molecular dimensions rather than a single size. A quantitative measure must state the weighting and statistic; particle-size variation and polymer chain-length variation are related examples but use different common indices.
The weight-average molar mass divided by the number-average molar mass. Its conventional written symbol is Đ. With number weighting it equals , so it is at least one and equals one only for a uniform molar mass. It measures one aspect of distribution breadth, not the full shape of a molar mass distribution.
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Particle-size distribution (PSD) refers to the measurement and characterization of the sizes of individual particles in a given sample of material. It provides information about the proportions of different particle sizes and is important in various fields such as material science, pharmacology, geology, and environmental science.