critical mass
See also: Critical Mass
English
editNoun
editcritical mass (countable and uncountable, plural critical masses)
- (nuclear physics) The minimum amount of fissile material needed to support a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.
- 2016, Carter Hydrick, Critical Mass […] [1], 3rd edition, TrineDay, →ISBN:
- […] Rhodes calculated the uranium bomb would eventually need “about 42 kilograms – 92.6 pounds,” which Rhodes then stated was approximately 2.8 critical masses. In other words, critical mass can be calculated to be about 15 kilograms.
- (by extension, figurative) The minimum amount of something or the minimum number of people needed to trigger a phenomenon.
- 2015, Giuseppe Riva, Brenda K. Wiederhold, Pietro Cipresso, editors, The Psychology of Social Networking, volume 1, Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 204:
- The critical mass comprises the pioneers of an SNS who pay the start-up costs and set up a circle of acquaintances for newcomers; thereafter new subscribers to a mature SNS can join one after another rather than as a group (Heijden, 2004).
- 2023, Eleanor Catton, Birnam Wood, page 19:
- The problem was not just that they had never quite reached that point of critical mass where their income would finally exceed their many costs and liabilities, it was that breaking good, for Mira at least, had always meant more than simply breaking even.
Related terms
editTranslations
editthe minimum amount of fissile material needed to a nuclear chain reaction
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the minimum number of people needed to trigger a phenomenon
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See also
editFurther reading
edit- “critical mass”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- “critical mass”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
- “critical mass” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.