what does it mean to sample a process in Activity monitor

Open Activity Monitor via spotlight , select CPU and double click on any process a window appears , click on sample .

The details of process will be shown like : path , load address , identifier , version , date and time , launch time .....

It will give the details of the process that are running in the background of the system .

If you want to save , click on save .

It's a troubleshooting/debugging tool.

<edited by ishrugged to remove link; it had an ad for a faux "cleaner"; sorry>

Older but clean link: http://thexlab.com/faqs/activitymonitor.html