Glossary

Definitions are scoped to Voxamine. Where a term has a precise scientific meaning, the simulation uses that meaning; where the game approximates, the entry says so and links to the source notes.

Simulation core

Charge — the contents of one vessel at a moment: the moles of each substance, their phases, grain sizes, temperature, and volume. A reaction acts on a charge.

Vessel — a bounded reaction domain with real limits: a rated pressure, a maximum wall temperature, a sealed-or-open state, and optionally a relief valve and heat exchange with its surroundings. Exceed a limit and it fails — one sticky failure reason, Overpressure or ThermalFailure, after which it refuses to tick.

Solver tick — one fixed step of the per-vessel integrator. The chemistry runs at 20 Hz, and one tick represents three process seconds at the game’s 60× rate scaling. Each tick is split into a power-of-two number of equal deterministic sub-steps, chosen once from the tick-start state.

60× rate scaling — a declared approximation: every kinetic rate is multiplied by 60 so processes complete in playable time. Thermodynamic quantities — enthalpy, entropy, equilibrium constants, temperature, pressure, voltage — are never scaled. One calendar day is 1,440 wall-clock seconds.

Deterministic transcendentals — the Chemistry assembly computes exp, ln, pow, and sqrt itself rather than calling System.Math, so a run is bit-identical on repeat. Cross-platform bit identity is a validation gate.

Conservation ledger — the accounting that every active domain must close: each element’s nuclei and net charge in equals out, across failures and spills. A domain that cannot close its ledger does not ship.

Thermodynamics and kinetics

Shomate equation — the polynomial form Cp(t) = A + Bt + Ct² + Dt³ + E/t² (with t = T/1000) used for heat capacity, entropy, and enthalpy change versus temperature. Coefficients come from NIST-JANAF tables, each with a stated valid range.

Standard enthalpy of formation (ΔfH°) — the enthalpy change forming one mole of a substance from its elements in their reference states at 298.15 K. Authored per substance; reaction enthalpies are summed from it, never authored separately.

Boudouard equilibrium — C + CO2 ⇌ 2 CO, ΔH = +172.5 kJ/mol. The reaction the early game rests on: hot and carbon-rich favours CO, the reductant. Its direction emerges from Q, K, and temperature, never a hard-coded crossover.

Reaction quotient (Q) and equilibrium constant (K) — Q is the activity product at the current state; K is its value at equilibrium. The signed (1 − Q/K) term makes rates vanish at equilibrium and reverse when Q > K.

Activity (a) — the dimensionless effective concentration: p/p° for an ideal gas, b/b° for an aqueous solute, mole fraction for an ideal solution, 1 for a pure solid or liquid.

Arrhenius equation — k(T) = A·exp(−Ea/RT). A and Ea are sourced from literature for a specific material, never invented to hit a target play time — the reason several MVP reactions are thermodynamically ready but not yet authored.

Specific surface area — for a heterogeneous reaction, Aₘ = 6·Vₘ/d from the solid’s grain size d: the surface-to-volume ratio of a uniform sphere. This is what a crusher reduces.

Calcination — thermal decomposition driving off CO₂, e.g. CaCO3 → CaO + CO2. Slaking — hydrating quicklime, CaO + H2O → Ca(OH)2, fast and exothermic. Reduction — removing oxygen from an ore to leave the metal, e.g. CuO + CO → Cu + CO2. Beneficiation — concentrating an ore before reduction.

Electrochemistry

Standard electrode potential (E°) — a couple’s reduction potential versus the standard hydrogen electrode (0.000 V by definition) at 298.15 K, aqueous, unit activity. Sourced from the CRC Handbook’s electrochemical series.

E°cell — E°cathode − E°anode for a galvanic cell. The Gibbs free energy ΔG° = −nFE°cell is derived from it, not authored alongside — “the same quantity in different units.”

Nernst equation — E = E°cell − (RT/nF)·ln Q: how cell potential shifts away from standard as concentrations change.

Faraday’s laws — n = I·t/(zF), m = nM. Amperes and seconds convert directly into moles of product; an electrolysis line’s throughput is the Faraday constant, not a tuned number.

Overpotential (η) — the extra voltage beyond the reversible potential needed to drive an electrode reaction at a real rate; modelled in the Tafel limit η = (RT/αnF)·ln(j/j₀).

Evidence levels

Used in both the wiki and the in-game journal:

Level	Meaning
measured	Read directly from an instrument, with the instrument and date recorded
calculated	Derived from measured values through a stated relation
inferred	A provisional explanation consistent with the evidence, not yet confirmed
unknown	Not established; retained as unknown rather than guessed

The Brand page has the badge markup and colours.

Project shorthand

MVP boundary — the bronze-age workshop of the playthrough; the product definition of done, superseding the engine’s original one.

Voxel Workshop — the in-editor tool suite (Project Doctor, Chemistry Lab, Assay Lab, Electrochemistry Lab, and more), each a module in one window rather than a standalone editor.

Voxamine — the game and this wiki’s name; internal codename Voxel Sandbox. See Brand.

§n — a section reference into the Masterplan, the authoritative design document.