1. A situation in which a body or object remains reasonably steady in a particular position while resting on a base that is narrow or small relative to its other dimensions.

For human beings, this most commonly involves remaining upright and steady on the feet: "He lost his balance on the icy side walk and broke his wrist as he fell down."
2. A condition in which two opposing forces or factors are of equal strength or importance so that they effectively cancel each other out and maintain stability.
3. To achieve or to maintain, or to cause someone or something to achieve or to maintain, a position of steadiness while resting on a narrow base.
4. An instrument used in laboratories and pharmacies to measure the mass or weight of a body.

A balance functions by measuring the force of gravity that the earth exerts on an object; such as, its weight.

Since the mass of an object is directly proportional to its weight, a balance can also be used to measure mass.

5. In medicine, a biological system which lets us know where our bodies where ever we are and to keep a desired physical position.

Normal balance depends on information from the inner ear, other senses; such as sight and touch, and muscle movements.

A person's sense of balance is specifically regulated by a complex interaction between the following parts of the nervous system:

• The inner ears, the labyrinth, monitor the directions of motions; such as, turning or forward-backward, side-to-side, and up-and-down motions.
• The eyes observe where the body is in space; that is, upside down, right side up, etc., and also the various directions of motion.
• Skin pressure receptors; such as, those located in the feet and seat sense what part of the body is down and when it is touching the ground.
• Muscle and joint sensory receptors report what parts of the body are moving.
• The central nervous system (including the brain and spinal cord) processes all the pieces of information from the four other systems to make some kind of functional sense our of the various bodily messages.

7. Etymology: "an apparatus for weighing", from Old French, (12th century) "balance, scales for weighing"; also in the figurative sense; from Middle Latin bilancia, from Late Latin bilanx, bilancem; from Latin (libra) bilanx, "(scale) having two pans".

1. A situation in which a body or object remains reasonably steady in a particular position while resting on a base that is narrow or small relative to its other dimensions.

For human beings, this most commonly involves remaining upright and steady on the feet: "He lost his balance on the icy side walk and broke his wrist as he fell down."
2. A condition in which two opposing forces or factors are of equal strength or importance so that they effectively cancel each other out and maintain stability.
3. To achieve or to maintain, or to cause someone or something to achieve or to maintain, a position of steadiness while resting on a narrow base.
4. An instrument used in laboratories and pharmacies to measure the mass or weight of a body.

A balance functions by measuring the force of gravity that the earth exerts on an object; such as, its weight.

Since the mass of an object is directly proportional to its weight, a balance can also be used to measure mass.

5. In medicine, a biological system which lets us know where our bodies where ever we are and to keep a desired physical position.

Normal balance depends on information from the inner ear, other senses; such as sight and touch, and muscle movements.

A person's sense of balance is specifically regulated by a complex interaction between the following parts of the nervous system:

• The inner ears, the labyrinth, monitor the directions of motions; such as, turning or forward-backward, side-to-side, and up-and-down motions.
• The eyes observe where the body is in space; that is, upside down, right side up, etc., and also the various directions of motion.
• Skin pressure receptors; such as, those located in the feet and seat sense what part of the body is down and when it is touching the ground.
• Muscle and joint sensory receptors report what parts of the body are moving.
• The central nervous system (including the brain and spinal cord) processes all the pieces of information from the four other systems to make some kind of functional sense our of the various bodily messages.

7. Etymology: "an apparatus for weighing", from Old French, (12th century) "balance, scales for weighing"; also in the figurative sense; from Middle Latin bilancia, from Late Latin bilanx, bilancem; from Latin (libra) bilanx, "(scale) having two pans".

The mechanisms which the body uses to keep its fluids close to neutral pH (that is, neither basic nor acidic) so the body can function as it should in a normal way.

A nursing outcome from the Nursing Outcomes Classification, NOC, defined as a balance of electrolytes and non-electrolytes in the intracellular and extracellular compartments of the body.

The equilibrium or balance between the amounts of electrolytes in the body; such as, calcium, sodium, and potassium; all of which are essential for normal health and functioning.

An instrument for measuring electromagnetic forces by balancing them against gravity.

1. A micro-balance in which the sample weight is obtained automatically, based on the force produced by current in a coil in a magnetic field.
2. A weighing balance which uses forces produced by known currents to balance unknown currents and, so make unknown weights come to within parts of a microgram.

The study of the global distribution and the migration of a particular element, mineral, or compound, including the amount liberated by weathering and transported to the Earth sediments and oceans: One example of geochemical balance can be exemplified by the distribution of quartz in igneous rocks, its liberation by weathering, and its redistribution into sediments and in solutions, into lakes, rivers, and oceans.

Sediments refer to solid fragments of inorganic or organic material that come from the weathering (disintegration and decomposition) of rock and are carried and deposited by wind, water, or ice.

1. An arrangement and construction of moving parts in reciprocating or rotating machines to reduce dynamic forces which may result in undesirable vibrations.
2. A balance in which the sample weight is determined by comparison with a calibrated weight.

The mechanical balance consists, essentially, of a rigid beam that oscillates on a horizontal central knife-edge as a fulcrum and has the two end knife-edges parallel and equidistant from the center. The loads to be weighed are supported on pans hung from bearings.

A sensory system is located in the structures of the inner ears which determines the orientation of the head or a condition of the bodily balance, maintained primarily by special receptors in the inner ear.

Sensory balance is the result of a number of body systems working together; specifically, in order to achieve balance the eyes (visual system), ears (vestibular system) and the body's sense of where it is in space (proprioception or the unconscious perception of movement and spatial orientation arising from stimuli within the body itself); all of which need to be intact and normally coordinated.

The level of outdoor temperature at which the heating capacity of a heat pump matches the heating requirements of a building.

A device designed to measure weak gravitational, electrostatic, or magnetic forces by determining the amount of torsion that they cause in a wire or filament.