Equilibrium definitions and example sentences on Wordnik

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noun A condition in which all acting influences are canceled by others, resulting in a stable, balanced, or unchanging system.
noun Mental or emotional balance; poise.
noun Physics The state of a body or physical system at rest or in unaccelerated motion in which the resultant of all forces acting on it is zero and the sum of all torques about any axis is zero.

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Equipoise; the state of being equally balanced; a situation of a body in which the forces acting on it balance one another; also, a determination of forces such that they balance one another, so that their resultant vanishes. Thus, when a heavy body rests on a table, the weight and the elastic forces which the weight evokes are in equilibrium (a phrase often used in the Latin form in æquilibrio, or more commonly in equilibrio)—that is, are precisely equal and opposite; thus, a man walking a tight-rope usually carries a pole or balancing-rod to aid him in preserving his equilibrium—that is, in keeping his center of gravity over the rope, so that his weight and the spring of the rope may act in the same vertical line. Similarly, a floating body is in equilibrium when its weight and the upward pressure or buoyancy of the liquid are exactly equal and opposite. When a body, being slightly moved out of its position, always tends to return to its position, the latter is said to be one of stable equilibrium; when a body, on the contrary, once removed, however slightly, from the position of equilibrium, tends to depart from it more and more, like a needle balanced on its point, its position is said to be one of unstable equilibrium; and when a body, being moved more or less from its position of equilibrium, will rest in any of the positions in which it is placed, and is indifferent to any particular position, its equilibrium is said to be neutral or indifferent. A perfect sphere, of uniform material, resting upon a horizontal plane, is in a state of neutral equilibrium; an oblate spheroid with its axis of rotation vertical is in stable equilibrium; while a prolate spheroid with its axis vertical is in unstable equilibrium on the same plane. A body suspended by its center of gravity is in a state of neutral or indifferent equilibrium. If a body is suspended by any other point, it will be in a state of stable equilibrium when its center of gravity is perpendicularly below the point of suspension; but if the center of gravity is above the point of suspension, the equilibrium will be unstable. If any forces, acting on a solid or fluid body, produce equilibrium, we may suppose any portions of the body to become fixed … without destroying the equilibrium. Thomson and Tait, Nat. Phil., § 564. When at rest under the action of two equal and opposite forces, a point is said to be in equilibrium. R. S. Ball, Exper. Mechanics, p. 6.
The state of balance of any causes, powers, or motives, so that no effect is produced. The balance is turned, and wherever this happens there is an end of the doubt or æquilibrium. Sharp, A Doubting Conscience. Enabled them eventually to restore the equilibrium which had been disturbed by the undue preponderance of the aristocracy. Prescott, Ferd. and Isa., i. 6.
A state of just poise; a position of due balance. Especially— Mental balance. Only Shakespeare was endowed with that healthy equilibrium of nature whose point of rest was midway between the imagination and the understanding. Lowell, Study Windows, p. 316.

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But it would be contrary to experience to maintain that very excitable spirits can never preserve a steady equilibrium, that is, to say that they cannot do so even under the strongest excitement. — Clausewitz, ON WAR - Book I-Chapter 3
He studied the Chinese people, celebrated for their longevity, and he sought for the best methods of maintaining what he called the equilibrium of vital forces. — Honoré de Balzac
"Pulling back on new development is one of the steps required to get lot supply back into equilibrium, which is usually an 18 - to 24-month supply." — Tampa Business News - Local Tampa News | The Tampa Bay Business Journal
Interests are in equilibrium, and are guaranteed security within certain limits that are generally understood. — The Moral Economy
But the aesthetic interest readily acquires equilibrium, and feels no inducement to leave off an activity which, though its limits may be narrow, is free and continuous within them. — The Moral Economy

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equilibrium

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