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Equilibrium or balance is any of a number of related phenomena in the natural and social sciences. In general, a system is said to be in a state of equilibrium if all influences on the system are cancelled by the effects of others. A related concept is stability; an equilibrium may or may not be stable.

Some specific examples are:

• Chemical equilibrium, the state in which a chemical reaction proceeds at the same rate as its reverse reaction, resulting in no net change in the amount of each compound.
• Mechanical equilibrium, also known as static equilibrium, the state of a body at rest or in uniform motion in which the sum of all forces and torques acting on the body equals zero.
  • Physical balance of humans and animals is maintained with the aid of the sense of balance, and in special cases with a balance beam.
  • See also the weighing instrument balanceFor other meanings of the word balance see: equilibrium sense of balance balance beam Balance (song) homeostasis, the biological balance within a human or other animal's body A balance (also beam balance or laboratory balance is used to accurately measure.
• Thermodynamic equilibriumIn thermodynamics, a thermodynamic system is in thermodynamic equilibrium if its energy distribution equals a Maxwell-Boltzmann-distribution. This allows to attribute a temperature to the system. The process that leads to a thermodynamic equilibrium is ca, the state of a system in which its internal processes cause no net change in its macroscopicMacroscopic means measurable and observable by the naked eye; describes existence as we perceive it. For instance, a macroscopic view of a ball is just that: a ball. A microscopic view could reveal a thick round skin seemingly composed entirely of puckere properties (such as temperature and pressure).
• In economicsIn economics, if a market for a product has attained the price where the amount supplied of a certain product equals the quantity demanded then it has " cleared". In most markets, this supply and demand balance is an economic equilibrium . The concept of, static equilibrium and general equilibriumWalras' analysis. General equilibrium theory is a branch of theoretical microeconomics. It seeks to explain production, consumption and prices in a whole economy. This article considers neoclassical approaches to general equilibrium. Investigations into t
• Nash equilibriumIn game theory, the Nash equilibrium (named after John Nash) is a kind of optimal strategy for games involving two or more players. If there is a set of strategies for a game with the property that no player can benefit by changing his strategy while the in game theory, an optimum strategy for all players in a game, in the sense that no one player can benefit by changing his strategy while all other players keep theirs the same.
• Reflective equilibrium in ethics, a state in which the consequences of one's general principles are consistent with one's opinions about individual cases.
• For individuals and organisations a balance between income and expenses is often important, especially in the long run.
• Psychologically some balance between desires and satisfaction is important; somewhat paradoxically complete satisfaction may not be ideal, it can be argued that perhaps it is better if things are left to be desired.
• In various practical matters an equilibrium is useful, e.g.:
  • in a conversation, between talking and listening;
  • in a personal relationship, between giving and taking;
  • between buying and reading books (apart from lent books).

An addiction is any of various forms of unbalanced behavior.

In electricity, a balanced signal is also called a differential signal.