what is a system in chemistry

Question

 i would like to know how a chemistry student can define a system

 

Answer 1

In chemistry, especially in thermodynamic studies, we speak of the system and the surroundings.  The system can be viewed as the part of the universe that is being studied and the surroundings is everything else. A more scientific definition might be that the system is a defined quantity of matter that we can put a boundary around, and the surroundings are everything outside of that boundary.