Reference articles on history, science, culture and more
Encyclopedia

Transient state

State of a system after conditions are changed, before it settles into steady state

In systems theory, a system is said to be transient or in a transient state when a process variable or variables have been changed and the system has not yet reached a steady state. In electrical engineering, the time taken for an electronic circuit to change from one steady state to another steady state is called the transient time.

01Chemical Engineering

When a chemical reactor is being brought into operation, the concentrations, temperatures, species compositions, and reaction rates are changing with time until operation reaches its nominal process variables.

Electrical engineering

When a switch is closed in an electrical circuit containing a capacitor or inductor, the component draws out the resulting change in voltage or current, causing the system to take a substantial amount of time to reach a new steady state. This period of time is known as the transient state.

A capacitor acts as a short circuit immediately after the switch is closed, increasing its impedance during the transient state until it acts as an open circuit in its steady state.

An inductor is the opposite, behaving as an open circuit until reaching a short circuit steady state.

02Statistics-(Stochastic Process)

In classification of States, A State is Transient if after leaving it, there is a positive probability of never returning.

Equivalently, fii < 1 where fii = P(return to state i)

Watch videos about Transient stateExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Transient state, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.