capable of assuming or producing either of two states; "a reversible chemical reaction"; "a reversible cell"
Colors that are reversible will bleed back into the dyebath during the second dye run It is necessary to use non-reversible dyes for overdyeing and double-dyeing
a garment (especially a coat) that can be worn inside out (with either side of the cloth showing)
A preservation process or treatment that can be undone without changing the object, returning it to its original state
Reversible clothes or materials have been made so that either side can be worn or shown as the outside. a reversible waistcoat
capable of being reversed; "a reversible decision is one that can be appealed or vacated
a garment (especially a coat) that can be worn inside out (with either side of the cloth showing) capable of assuming or producing either of two states; "a reversible chemical reaction"; "a reversible cell"
Capable of being reversed; as, a chair or seat having a reversible back; a reversible judgment or sentence
capable of being reversed; "a reversible decision is one that can be appealed or vacated"
A process that moves through a sequence of equilibrium states with no finite departure from equilibrium To be contrasted with spontaneous processes, which happen by themselves because the system is not in equilibrium (remember that the definition of equilibrium is that nothing macroscopic changes!) Of course, reversible processes are an unachievable idealization, but they still occupy a critical place in thermodynamic thinking We can think of a reversible process as the change of state driven by externally imposed variations in the intensive parameters, in the limit of infinitely slow change In practical terms, if we can characterize the time for a system to relax to equilbrium after a perturbation, then we can achieve nearly reversible changes by driving the system at a time scale much longer than the relaxation time The idea of a reversible change is embodied in the second law of thermodynamics, since it is used to define the sense in which entropy is a state variable
If a process or an action is reversible, its effects can be reversed so that the original situation returns. Heart disease is reversible in some cases, according to a study published last summer. irreversible