Critical mass In nuclear engineering, a critical mass is the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. The critical mass of a fissionable material depends upon its nuclear properties (specifically, its nuclear fis ...

is the amount of fissile material needed to sustain nuclear fission. Critical mass may also refer to:

Science and technology

Critical mass (sociodynamics) In social dynamics, critical mass is a sufficient number of adopters of a new idea, technology or innovation in a social system so that the rate of adoption becomes self-sustaining and creates further growth. The point at which critical mass is a ...

, a stage in social-system innovation *

Critical mass (software engineering) In software engineering, critical mass is a stage in the life cycle when the source code grows too complicated to effectively manage without a complete rewrite. At the critical mass stage, fixing a bug introduces one or more new bugs. Tools such ...

, a stage in the product life cycle of software

Organizations

Critical Mass (cycling) Critical Mass is a form of direct action in which people meet at a set location and time and travel as a group through their neighbourhoods on bikes. The idea is for people to group together to make it safe for each other to ride bicycles through ...

, a form of direct action involving large groups of bicycle riders *

Critical Mass (pressure group) Critical Mass is a pressure group which began its days in opposition to the government of Margaret Thatcher. It supported the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). Critical Mass was founded in 1984 in Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside town in t ...

, a UK political pressure group *

Critical Mass Energy Project The Critical Mass Energy Project was formed by Ralph Nader in 1974 as a national anti-nuclear umbrella group. It was probably the largest national anti-nuclear group in the United States, with several hundred local affiliates and an estimated 200,00 ...

, an anti-nuclear umbrella group founded by Ralph Nader ** ''

Critical Mass Journal The Critical Mass Energy Project was formed by Ralph Nader in 1974 as a national anti-nuclear umbrella group. It was probably the largest national anti-nuclear group in the United States, with several hundred local affiliates and an estimated 200,00 ...

'', published in 1977 by the Critical Mass Energy Project * Critical Mass, a co-working center sponsored by the

New England Venture Capital Association The New England Venture Capital Association (NEVCA) is a trade association with the mission to make New England the best place in the world to start and grow new companies. The NEVCA represents the interests of venture capital investors by promoti ...

* Critical Mass, a robotics team of the

Dwight-Englewood School The Dwight-Englewood School (D-E) is an independent coeducational college-preparatory day school, located in Englewood, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The school teaches students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in thr ...

in Englewood, New Jersey

Literature

* ''Critical Mass'' (book), a 2004 book by Philip Ball * ''Critical Mass'' (2013 book), a 2013 novel by

Sara Paretsky Sara Paretsky (born June 8, 1947) is an American author of detective fiction, best known for her novels focused on the protagonist V. I. Warshawski. Life and career Paretsky was born in Ames, Iowa. Her father was a microbiologist and moved the ...

* "Critical Mass" (Pohl and Kornbluth short story), a 1962 story by Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth * "Critical Mass" (Arthur C. Clarke short story), a 1949 short story by Arthur C. Clarke * '' Critical Masses: Opposition to Nuclear Power in California, 1958–1978'', a 1998 book by Thomas Wellock * ''Critical Mass'', a 1990 seven-issue comic book anthology printed under Epic Comics's

Shadowline Saga Shadowline is an American comic book sub-imprint of the Marvel Comics imprint Epic Comics that was originally published from 1988 to 1990. It was created and edited by Archie Goodwin and encompassed three series. Informally called the Shadowline ...

imprint

Film and television

* ''Critical Mass'', a 1971 experimental short film from Hollis Frampton's ''

Hapax Legomena In corpus linguistics, a ''hapax legomenon'' ( also or ; ''hapax legomena''; sometimes abbreviated to ''hapax'', plural ''hapaxes'') is a word or an expression that occurs only once within a context: either in the written record of an entire ...

'' cycle *

Critical Mass (anime) Right Stuf Inc. (formerly known as The Right Stuf International Inc.) is an American video publisher and distributor of video programming that specializes in Asian entertainment (anime and live action films). The company since 2022 is owned by ...

, a subdivision of the video publisher and distributor Right Stuf Inc. * ''Critical Mass'' (film), a 2000 film starring Treat Williams and Lori Loughlin * "Critical Mass" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of ''Stargate Atlantis''

Gaming

* '' Duke Nukem: Critical Mass'', a shooter game developed by Frontline Studios * ''Critical Mass'' (1985 video game) or ''Power!'', a computer game by Durell Software * ''Critical Mass'' (1982 video game), an adventure game by

Sirius Software Sirius Software was a video game publisher of Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, and VIC-20 games in the early 1980s. Sirius also developed games for the Atari 2600 which were published by 20th Century Fox Video Games. History The co ...

* Critical Mass, a set of collectible miniature game figures by

HeroClix HeroClix is a collectible miniatures game that uses the Clix system that centers on the world of superhero comic books, especially the DC Comics and Marvel universes like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, the ...

Music

Bands

Critical Mass (Canadian band) Critical Mass is a Canadian Christian rock music group from Waterloo Region. The band is heavily influenced by its Catholic roots. They have produced and released seven albums. Their songs have appeared on albums that have sold more than 60,00 ...

, a Catholic rock band formed in 1997 *

Critical Mass (Dutch band) Critical Mass was a Dutch happy hardcore act that was active from 1994 till 1999 during the happy hardcore period. They scored several hits in the Netherlands. Members of the group were producer Huib Schippers, Dave van Hasselaar and Ed Bout. La ...

, a Dutch happy hardcore group

Albums and songs

* ''Critical Mass'' (Dave Holland album), 2006 * ''Critical Mass'' (Threshold album), 2002 * ''Critical Mass'' (Matthew Shipp album), 1995 * ''Critical Mass'' (Ra album), 2013 * "Critical Mass", a song by Aerosmith from ''

Draw the Line Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn may refer to: Common uses * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Drawing (manufacturing), a process where metal, glass, or plastic or anythin ...

'' * "Critical Mass", a song by Nuclear Assault from '' Handle with Care'' * "Critical Mass", a song by Chrome from ''

Half Machine Lip Moves ''Half Machine Lip Moves'' is the third studio album by American rock band Chrome. It was released on March 15, 1979 by Siren Records. The album has been reissued several times on different labels: by Beggars Banquet Records in the United Kingdo ...

'' {{disambiguation