metastable

[met-uh-stey-buhl, met-uh-stey-]

adjective

1. Metallurgy.,  chemically unstable in the absence of certain conditions that would induce stability, but not liable to spontaneous transformation.

2. Physics, Chemistry.,  Also pertaining to a body or system existing at an energy level metastable state above that of a more stable state and requiring the addition of a small amount of energy to induce a transition to the more stable state.

metastable

/ ˌmɛtəˈsteɪbəl /

adjective

1. (of a body or system) having a state of apparent equilibrium although capable of changing to a more stable state

2. (of an atom, molecule, ion, or atomic nucleus) existing in an excited state with a relatively long lifetime

noun

1. a metastable atom, ion, molecule, or nucleus

Other Word Forms

• metastability noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of metastable¹

First recorded in 1895–1900; meta- + stable ²

Example Sentences

Li ions move to the nearest Li position always passing through metastable positions.

From Science Daily

Analogously, isolated social states such as the former country of East Germany can persist in a metastable state for decades until the isolating boundaries are breached by outside influences.

From Science Daily

Inspired by this phenomenon, the researchers developed a superior supramolecular machine capable to efficiently convert widely used synthetic photoswitchable molecules -- azobenzenes -- from the stable to the metastable conformation with almost any wavelength of visible light.

From Science Daily

In a recent experiment, this same group of researchers discovered a far more efficient way to create a previously observed metastable, superconducting-like state in K3C60 using laser light.

From Science Daily

Due to this complication, previous measurement setups for generating and determining negative pressures have required significant laboratory space and even posed a disturbance to the system in the metastable state.

From Science Daily