equilibrium Hear it!

equilibrium Definition

equi·lib·rium (ē′kwi lib′rē əm; also ek′wi-)

noun pl. -·ri·ums or -·ria-ə

  1. a state of balance or equality between opposing forces
  2. a state of balance or adjustment of conflicting desires, interests, etc.
    1. the ability of the animal body to keep itself properly oriented or positioned; bodily stability or balance
    2. mental or emotional stability or balance; poise
  4. the condition in a reversible chemical reaction in which the products of the reaction are consumed by the reverse reaction at the same rate as they are formed, and there is no net change in the concentrations of the products or the reactants
  5. the stage of a radioactive material at which the rate of disintegration and the rate of formation are equal for each intermediate product in the radioactive decay series

Etymology: L aequilibrium < aequilibris, evenly balanced < aequus (see equal) + libra, a balance

equilibrium Synonyms

equilibrium

n.

  1. Balance

    stability, steadiness, center of gravity, equipoise; see balance 2, equality.

  2. Mental or emotional balance

    equanimity, poise, calm; see composure.

equilibrium Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • punctuate: His theory of punctuated equilibrium is probably his most widely known contribution to evolutionary theory.
  • disturb: Only a very small electric pulse is needed to disturb the equilibrium.
  • restore: The global climate restores the equilibrium by either heating up or cooling down.
  • regain: It seems that the Guomindang has gradually regained an equilibrium by military means in the past year.
  • upset: But nothing to upset the equilibrium of the kayak.
  • attain: They also increased the time taken to attain equilibrium due to the increased death rate.

Adjective modifier

  • thermodynamic: In physics, to sustain oneself is to keep far away from thermodynamic equilibrium, which is death by another name.
  • hydrostatic: When in hydrostatic equilibrium and gravitational energy is its source of heat and radiation, it is called a pre-main sequence star.
  • thermal: The staggered heating cycle was designed to ensure thermal equilibrium was achieved.
  • unstable: The origin is an unstable equilibrium corresponding to the vertical position above the pivot.
  • macroeconomic: The Feer measure aims to compute the exchange rate consistent with macroeconomic equilibrium.
  • dynamic: You can show dynamic equilibrium in an equation for a reaction by the use of special arrows.

Modifies a noun

  • thermodynamics: A few simple examples are discussed explicitly by constructing the corresponding equilibrium thermodynamics.
  • constant: The units for equilibrium constants vary from case to case.
  • moisture: Each material has its own wholly specific equilibrium moisture content.
  • mixture: Position of equilibrium In the example we've used, the equilibrium mixture contained more orange squares than blue ones.

Preposition: between

uranium: Powertrains mimic the Top Home Entertainment equilibrium between uranium.

Noun used with modifier

  • long-run: In this article we use a simple framework to examine how these two ratios should behave in long-run equilibrium.
  • sedimentation: The molecular weight of the native protein determined from sedimentation equilibrium in buffers containing from 50 to 200 mM KCl is 20,000.
  • dissociation: Keywords: AIR, CONVERSION, FACTOR, UNIT, WATER Thermodynamic properties of air in dissociation equilibrium.