Meaning & use
thermal equilibrium
A state in which two objects in contact have reached the same temperature and stop exchanging heat.
See it in a sentence
The coffee eventually reaches thermal equilibrium with the room, cooling to the same temperature.
The experiment tracked how long the two metal blocks took to reach thermal equilibrium.
A note on using this word
Thermal equilibrium is a core idea behind the zeroth law of thermodynamics, which defines temperature itself.
Words with a similar meaning
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