Dictionary

critical mass en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Meanings

1. (countable, qualifier:nuclear physics, uncountable) The minimum amount of fissile material needed to support a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.
   • […] 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. 2016, Carter Hydrick, Critical Mass […] , 3rd edition, TrineDay, →ISBN:
2. (broadly, countable, figuratively, uncountable) The minimum amount of something or the minimum number of people needed to trigger a phenomenon.
   • 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). 2015, Giuseppe Riva, Brenda K. Wiederhold, Pietro Cipresso, editors, The Psychology of Social Networking, volume 1, Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 204:
   • 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. 2023, Eleanor Catton, Birnam Wood, page 19:
   • […] depending on the rare circumstance of there being a critical mass of persons whose combination of interests and resources is high enough to overcome the feasibility problem. 1993, Gerald Marwell, Pamela Oliver, The Critical Mass in Collective Action, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 87:

Forms

Relateds

tipping point · supercritical mass · subcritical mass

Translations (27)

fr masse critique (the minimum amount of fissile material needed to a nuclear chain reaction) · br tolz eizik (the minimum amount of fissile material needed to a nuclear chain reaction) · el κρίσιμη μάζα (the minimum number of people needed to trigger a phenomenon) · uk крити́чна ма́са (the minimum amount of fissile material needed to a nuclear chain reaction) · pl masa krytyczna (the minimum amount of fissile material needed to a nuclear chain reaction) · tl maselang bugat (the minimum amount of fissile material needed to a nuclear chain reaction) · de kritische Masse (the minimum amount of fissile material needed to a nuclear chain reaction) · ru крити́ческая ма́сса (the minimum amount of fissile material needed to a nuclear chain reaction) · it massa critica (the minimum amount of fissile material needed to a nuclear chain reaction) · pl masa krytyczna (the minimum number of people needed to trigger a phenomenon) · ca massa crítica (the minimum amount of fissile material needed to a nuclear chain reaction) · ro masă critică (the minimum number of people needed to trigger a phenomenon) · el κρίσιμη μάζα (the minimum amount of fissile material needed to a nuclear chain reaction) · nl kritische massa (the minimum amount of fissile material needed to a nuclear chain reaction) · ro masă critică (the minimum amount of fissile material needed to a nuclear chain reaction) · sv kritisk massa (the minimum amount of fissile material needed to a nuclear chain reaction) · ja 臨界質量 (the minimum amount of fissile material needed to a nuclear chain reaction) · cs kritické množství (the minimum amount of fissile material needed to a nuclear chain reaction) · de kritische Masse (the minimum number of people needed to trigger a phenomenon) · da kritisk masse (the minimum number of people needed to trigger a phenomenon) · pt massa crítica (the minimum amount of fissile material needed to a nuclear chain reaction) · fi kriittinen massa (the minimum number of people needed to trigger a phenomenon) · hu kritikus tömeg (the minimum amount of fissile material needed to a nuclear chain reaction) · sv kritisk massa (the minimum number of people needed to trigger a phenomenon) · is markmassi (the minimum amount of fissile material needed to a nuclear chain reaction) · cs kritické množství (the minimum number of people needed to trigger a phenomenon) · fi kriittinen massa (the minimum amount of fissile material needed to a nuclear chain reaction)