Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction
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A Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction, or BZ reaction, is one of a class of reactions that serve as a classical example of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, resulting in the establishment of a nonlinear chemical oscillator. The only common element in these oscillating systems is the inclusion of bromine and an acid. The reactions are theoretically important in that they show that chemical reactions do not have to be dominated by equilibrium thermodynamic behavior. These reactions are far from equilibrium and remain so for a significant length of time and evolve chaotically. In this sense, they provide an interesting chemical model of nonequilibrium biological phenomena, and the mathematical models of the BZ reactions themselves are of theoretical interest and simulations.
See also
- Autowave
- Autowave reverberator
- Briggs–Rauscher reaction
- Dissipation
- Excitable medium
- Patterns in nature
- Reaction-diffusion
- Self-oscillation
- Self-organization
- Alan Turing who mathematically predicted oscillating chemical reactions in the early 1950s