# at capacity (threshold)

*Ordinarily means:* completely full and unable to take more.

A parameter has reached the wall of its window, where no further increase can occur without ending the thing’s current state.

- Computed level: L13 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: capacity and burnout  ·  Arena: emergence

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [wall](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-wall.range-end), [window](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-window.range), [parameter](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-parameter.condition)

**Through:** at-capacity.threshold

**Novel properties:**
- exhaustion.capacity

## Examples
- The Fukushima Daiichi reactors automatically scrammed when neutron flux exceeded design limits, halting the chain reaction. *(engineering)*
- The Aral Sea shrank below ecological tipping points after rivers feeding it were fully diverted for Soviet irrigation. *(environment)*
- The U.S. debt ceiling was reached in January 2023, legally capping Treasury’s borrowing authority. *(economics)*

---
*Canonical: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-at-capacity.threshold*  
*Structured data: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-at-capacity.threshold.json*  
*Every definition provably resolves to space, time, energy and pattern.*