Continuum mechanics (e.g., hydrodynamics, elasticity theory) is based on the assumptionthat a small set of fields provides a closed description on large space and time scales.Conditions governing the choice for these fields are discussed in the context of granularfluids and multi-component fluids. In the first case, the relevance of temperature orenergy as a hydrodynamic field is justified. For mixtures, the use of a total temperatureand single flow velocity is compared with the use of multiple species temperatures andvelocities.
