EQUILIBRIUM

in statics, the condition when a body is acted on by two or more forces which balance one another. The body may be either at rest or moving with uniform speed in a straight line. In the first case, when the body, being slightly moved out of any position, always tends to return to its position, that position is said to be one of stable equilibrium; when the body, after a slight displacement, tends to move away from its previous position, the body is in wnstable equitibrtum. If, after displacement, the body tends to remain at rest, its state is one of neutral equilibrium.