ACTIVATION ENERGY
Charles François (2004). ACTIVATION ENERGY, International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(1): 17.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 17 ▶ |
| Object type | Discipline oriented, General information, Methodology or model |
The energy needed to start a reaction.
This notion comes from chemistry: A certain minimum energy is needed to prime any reaction, which may then become self-maintained, or tend to come to a standstill, or run away as in an explosion process.
It would be interesting to explore analogies in ecology, economy and society. Many processes affecting systems in these domains seem to be triggered by some more or less precisely definite input of energy. However it also seems that these phenomena are very poorly understood and that in some cases disasters may result.
See also
chain reaction, enthalpy, runaway process.