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The breakeven point in economics is the point at which cost or expenses and income are equal - there is no net loss or gain, one has "broken even".
The point at which a firm or other economic entity breaks even is equal to its fixed costs divided by its contribution per unit output, which can be shown by the following formula: -
<math>\mbox{Breakeven Point} = {\mbox{Fixed Costs} \over \mbox{Contribution per Unit Output}}<math>
The break even point is also the point on a chart indicating the time when something has broken even, and is a general term for not having gained or lost something in a process.
Other uses of the term
In an analagous way, the term breakeven is used by nuclear fusion experts to indicate that point at which a nuclear fusion power reactor (such as ITER) would finally produce more output power than the power that is required to initiate and sustain the fusion reaction. As of 2005, sustained breakeven has not yet been achieved
The notion can also be found in more general phenomena, such as percolation, and is rather similar to the critical threshold.
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