  We have compared numerical simulations to observations for the nearby (< 40
Mpc) groups of galaxies (Huchra & Geller 1982 and Ramella et al. 2002). The
group identification is carried out using a group-finding algorithm developed
by Huchra and Geller (1982). Using cosmological N-body simulation code with the
LambdaCDM cosmology, we show that the dynamical properties of groups of
galaxies identified from the simulation data are, in general, in a moderate,
within 2sigma, agreement with the observational catalogues of groups of
galaxies. As simulations offer more dynamical information than observations, we
used the N-body simulation data to calculate whether the nearby groups of
galaxies are gravitationally bound objects by using their virial ratio. We show
that in a LambdaCDM cosmology about 20 per cent of nearby groups of galaxies,
identified by the same algorithm as in the case of observations, are not bound,
but merely groups in a visual sense. This is quite significant, specifically
because estimations of group masses in observations are often based on an
assumption that groups of galaxies found by the friends-of-friends algorithm
are gravitationally bound objects. Simulations with different resolutions show
the same results. We also show how the fraction of gravitationally unbound
groups varies when the apparent magnitude limit of the sample and the value of
the cosmological constant is changed. In general, a larger value of the
Omega_Lambda generates slightly more unbound groups.
