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metastable
[ met-uh-stey-buhl, met-uh-stey- ]
adjective
- Metallurgy. chemically unstable in the absence of certain conditions that would induce stability, but not liable to spontaneous transformation.
metastable
/ ˌmɛtəˈsteɪbəl /
adjective
- (of a body or system) having a state of apparent equilibrium although capable of changing to a more stable state
- (of an atom, molecule, ion, or atomic nucleus) existing in an excited state with a relatively long lifetime
noun
- a metastable atom, ion, molecule, or nucleus
Derived Forms
- ˌmetastaˈbility, noun
Other Words From
- met·a·sta·bil·i·ty [met-, uh, -st, uh, -, bil, -i-tee], noun
Word History and Origins
Origin of metastable1
Example Sentences
The result suggests that at high pressure diamond is what scientists call metastable.
Diamond was already known to be metastable at low pressures.
X-ray measurements of the material’s structure revealed that diamond persisted, suggesting it is metastable under extreme pressure.
To this fact van't Hoff attributes the great permanence of many really unstable (or metastable) carbon compounds.
At any point outside this area, monoclinic sulphur can exist only in a metastable condition.
This law explains the formation of the metastable forms of monotropic substances, which would otherwise not be obtainable.
Two of these solutions, however, would be metastable and supersaturated with respect to the decahydrate.
The dotted portions of the curves represent metastable equilibria.
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