List of types of equilibrium

This is a list of various types of equilibrium, the condition of a system in which all competing influences are balanced.

Biology

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Physics

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  • Equilibrant force, which keeps any object motionless and acts on virtually every object in the world that is not moving
  • Equilibrium figures of Earth and planets (physical geodesy)
  • Equilibrium mode distribution, the state of fiber optic or waveguide transmission in which the propagation mode does not vary with distance along the fiber or changes in the launch mode
  • Hydrostatic equilibrium, the state of a system in which compression due to gravity is balanced by a pressure gradient force
  • Hyperbolic equilibrium point, a mathematical concept in physics
  • Mechanical equilibrium, the state in which the sum of the forces, and torque, on each particle of the system is zero
  • Radiative equilibrium, the state where the energy radiated is balanced by the energy absorbed
  • Secular equilibrium, a state of radioactive elements in which the production rate of a daughter nucleus is balanced by its own decay rate
  • Thermodynamic equilibrium, the state of a thermodynamic system in which there are no net flows of matter or energy
  • Isostatic equilibrium, in geology, the balance between gravitation and buoyancy of the Earth's crust in the mantle

Chemistry

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  • Chemical equilibrium, the state in which the concentrations of the reactants and products have stopped changing in time
  • Diffusive equilibrium, when the concentrations of each type of particle have stopped changing
  • Thermal equilibrium, a state where an object and its surroundings cease to exchange energy in the form of heat, i.e. they are at the same temperature
  • Donnan equilibrium, the distribution of ion species between two ionic solutions separated by a semipermeable membrane or boundary
  • Dynamic equilibrium, the state in which two reversible processes occur at the same rate
  • Equilibrium constant, a quantity characterizing a chemical equilibrium in a chemical reaction
  • Partition equilibrium, a type of chromatography that is typically used in GC
  • Quasistatic equilibrium, the quasi-balanced state of a thermodynamic system near to equilibrium in some sense or degree
  • Schlenk equilibrium, a chemical equilibrium named after its discoverer Wilhelm Schlenk taking place in solutions of Grignard reagents
  • Solubility equilibrium, any chemical equilibrium between solid and dissolved states of a compound at saturation
  • Vapor–liquid equilibrium, where the rates of condensation and vapourization of a material are equal

Economics

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Game theory

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Other

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  • Social equilibrium, a system in which there is a dynamic working balance among its interdependent parts
  • Equilibrium moisture content, the moisture content at which the wood is neither gaining nor losing moisture
  • Equilibrium point, in mathematics, a constant solution to a differential equation
  • Reflective equilibrium, the state of balance or coherence among a set of beliefs arrived at by a process of deliberative mutual adjustment
  • Comfortable equilibrium, or the Clarinda Equilibrium refers to the psychological state of mental harmony and equanimity with the frequently opposing stresses and strains of complicated circumstances in tension. As situations unfold, there will be the tendency for the equilibrium to shift and adjust, yet for these different stable equilibria transient or otherwise, there is an intrinsic zone of equanimity of psychological disposition that marks out a psychological resilience that transcends any such uncomfortable shifts.
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