ABSTRACT
The configuration, or state, of a system will be given by listing the concentrations, or amounts, of all the participants at that time and will be denoted by a circled lower case letter. The conversion of one configuration to another will be called a process. Even in living systems, organized structures such as macromolecules are frequently unstable. For example, messenger Ribo Nucleic Acids and proteins have finite lifetimes, allowing the cell to shut down unnecessary reactions; Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid is denatured at every cell division; physical injury damages biopolymers; normal development requires the breakdown of biological order, like, the separation of fetal fingers. The new equilibrium state has the same ratio of concentrations as did state, but the amounts of the participants have been reduced. The system is said to be in a steady state and it forms a paradigm for all living systems, namely, a set of coupled reactions with constant input of reactants and constant removal of products.
