Biphasic

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A biphasic system is one which has two phases.

  • In chemistry, when oil and water are poured into a beaker, they form a biphasic system. See mixtures.
  • In chronobiology, biphasic sleep refers to a nap or siesta in addition to the usual sleep episode at night. Monophasic sleep means just one sleep episode per day.
  • In psychiatry it may refer to a sigmoidal curve that goes downward as the axis increases because a competing behavior is impeding. This competing behavior is called stereotypy. Stereotypy is when an individual or an animal do simple tasks over and over (ex: experimental rat making circles for several hours).