Molecular dynamics calculations which are employed to model light particle emission in nuclear collisions at intermediate energies suggest that coalescence model analyses may be used to probe the time evolution of these systems and to provide information on the degree of thermal, chemical and isospin equilibrium achieved at particular stages of this evolution. This talk discusses the application of coalescence model analyses to explore light particle emission in reactions between 47A MeV projectiles and medium mass targets. The results provide evidence for increasing expansion of the hot composite nuclei as the projectile mass increases. Densities and temperatures of the freeze-out configurations in multi-fragmenting systems are derived.

PACS numbers: 25.70.--z, 25.70.Pq