# potential (capacity)

a window that is open and unoccupied

- Computed level: L18 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: everyday  ·  Arena: common

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [open](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-open.spatial), [unoccupied](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-unoccupied.spatial), [window](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-window.range)

**Through:** The open.spatial and unoccupied.spatial conditions together with a window.range create a passable, vacant span within a bounded range, allowing potential for passage or occupation.

**Novel properties:**
- available passage
- unfilled opportunity
- accessible threshold

## Examples
- The International Space Station maintains attitude control using gyroscopes powered by solar arrays. *(engineering)*
- In 2023, the Federal Reserve held interest rates at 5.25% to manage inflation expectations without further hikes. *(economics)*
- Neurons in the hippocampus show place-specific firing patterns only when an animal enters a novel, unexplored enclosure. *(biology)*

## Used by
- [ability](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-ability.capacity) (L19)
- [burnout](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-burnout.capacity) (L19)
- [health](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-health.condition) (L19)
- [hot](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-hot.temperature) (L19)
- [power](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-power.energy) (L19)
- [surplus](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-surplus.excess) (L19)

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