thermodynamic equilibrium

noun

1. the condition of an isolated system in which the quantities that specify its properties, such as pressure, temperature, etc, all remain unchanged Sometimes shortened toequilibrium

Example Sentences

"Applying traditional methods and concepts from the theory of fluids such as pair and triplet correlations to fish was a new challenge, as these concepts originate from the thermodynamic equilibrium and a living school of fish is far from being in a state of equilibrium," says Löwen, Head of the Institute for Theoretical Physics II at HHU.

From Science Daily

According to Prof. Arri Priimägi, the leader of Smart Photonics Materials group specializing in light-active materials, the study presents a new approach for activating photoresponsive molecules with low-energy light, pushing them out from their thermodynamic equilibrium utilizing chemistry that only takes place under confinement.

From Science Daily

It was the second law of thermodynamics, and people immediately realized that, in a world governed by the second law, our Sun will gradually burn out, Earth will become an icy wasteland, and the universe as a whole will inexorably sink into a frozen pond of thermodynamic equilibrium—a lifeless state of eternal quietude.

From Salon

This is the opposite of physicists’ idea of thermodynamic equilibrium, in which energy flows into a system only to inevitably dissipate: imagine a pot of water that is brought to a rolling boil and then returned to room temperature.

From Scientific American

The simulations also showed that the metastable domino phase is stabilized when stress is applied perpendicularly to the plane of the simulated grain boundary, so that its energy matches that of the stable pearl phase — thereby establishing a true thermodynamic equilibrium between the two phases.

From Nature