equation of state

American

noun

Physics.

an equation relating the temperature, pressure, and volume of a given thermodynamic system.

equation of state British

noun

any equation that expresses the relationship between the temperature, pressure, and volume of a substance

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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Physicists seek accurate measurements of neutron stars’ masses and radii, which would help reveal their “equation of state”—the relationship between pressure and density within these stars.

From Scientific American

Knowing the neutron star equation of state would in turn indicate what kind of matter hides inside them.

From Scientific American

The equation of state they derived predicted that a neutron star containing the mass of 1.4 suns would have a radius of about 11.75 kilometers, plus or minus .81 to .86 km.

From Scientific American

In the process, she realized that the landscape for neutron-star research—in particular, the question of the equation of state—should look very different by then.

From Scientific American

With this precision, the group will be well placed to begin plotting out what is known as the neutron-star equation of state, which relates mass to radius or, equivalently, internal pressure to density.

From Nature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023