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In chemistry, chemical stability is the thermodynamic stability of a chemical system, in particular a chemical compound or a polymer. [ 1 ] Chemical stability may also refer to the shelf-life of a particular chemical compound; that is the duration of time before it begins to degrade in response to environmental factors.
Non-equilibrium thermodynamics is a branch of physics that studies the dynamics of statistical ensembles of molecules via unstable states. Being "stuck" in a thermodynamic trough without being at the lowest energy state is known as having kinetic stability or being kinetically persistent.
In coordination chemistry, a stability constant (also called formation constant or binding constant) is an equilibrium constant for the formation of a complex in solution. It is a measure of the strength of the interaction between the reagents that come together to form the complex.
The equilibrium in water solution may be shifted towards either compound. For example, the equilibrium constant for the conversion of acetone (H 3 C) 2 C =O to propane-2,2-diol (H 3 C) 2 C(OH) 2 is about 10 −3, [1] while that of formaldehyde H 2 C =O to methanediol H 2 C(OH) 2 is 10 3. [2] For conversion of hexafluoroacetone (F 3 C) 2 C =O to ...
All chemical transformations pass through an unstable structure called the transition state, which is poised between the chemical structures of the substrates and products. The transition states for chemical reactions are proposed to have lifetimes near 10 −13 seconds, on the order of the time of a single bond vibration. No physical or ...
A steady state, on the other hand, is not necessarily an equilibrium state in the chemical sense. For example, in a radioactive decay chain the concentrations of intermediate isotopes are constant because the rate of production is equal to the rate of decay. It is not a chemical equilibrium because the decay process occurs in one direction only.
Transition state theory explains the dynamics of reactions. The theory is based on the idea that there is an equilibrium between the activated complex and reactant molecules. The theory incorporates concepts from collision theory, which states that for a reaction to occur, reacting molecules must collide with a minimum energy and correct ...
An unstable system is one that diverges from the steady state. See for example Linear difference equation#Stability . In chemistry , a steady state is a more general situation than dynamic equilibrium .