Chain (disambiguation)

Chain may refer to:

• Chain, a sequence of links
• Chain (unit), unit of length
• Gunter's chain, a unit of measurement
• Chain tool, small mechanical device used to "break" a bicycle chain in such a way that it could be mended with the same tool
• Chainmail, a type of armor made of interlocking chain links
• Catenary (or "chain"), the shape of a hanging flexible cable when supported at its ends and acted upon by a uniform gravitational force
• Chain (in selling a house), whereby a group of buyers/sellers are linked together
• Chain or fetter (Pali: saŋyojana), in Buddhism, refers to a deeply rooted mental attachment preventing one from achieving liberation from suffering
• Chaining, an Applied Behavioral Analysis technique for teaching complicated tasks by breaking them into simpler steps

In management:

• Chain of command, the line of authority and responsibility along which orders are passed
• Chain store (same as business chain), a network of physical business locations or retail outlets which share a brand and central management
• Restaurant chain, set of related restaurants
• Hotel chain, group of branded hotels managed together under a business arrangement known as franchising or operated by a single company
• Supply chain, coordinated system of organizations, people , activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer
• Cold chain, temperature-controlled supply chain
• Value chain, a management concept first described by Michael Porter

In mathematics:

• Chain (algebraic topology), formal linear combination of k-simplices
• Chain (order theory), totally ordered subset of a partially ordered set
• Chain complex, is a construct originally used in the field of algebraic topology
• Markov chain, discrete-time stochastic process with the Markov property
• Pseudo-arc, which has at its heart the concept of a chain
• Chain rule, a tool for differentiation in calculus.

In chemistry:

• Chain reaction, sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions
• Ideal chain, mathematical model of polymer folding
• Worm-like chain (or Semiflexible chain), which has Kuhn length equal to twice the persistence length

In economics:

• Chained dollars, used to express real dollar amounts adjusted over time for inflation.

Names involving 'chain':

• Chain Bridge (Washington, D.C.), bridge across the Potomac River at the Little Falls in Washington, D.C.
• Széchenyi Chain Bridge, suspension bridge that spans River Danube between Buda and Pest
• Union Bridge (Tweed) (or "Chain Bridge"), bridge in Northumberland
• John Chain, a retired U.S. Air Force general
• Alice in Chains, an influential rock group that was formed in the late-1980s in Seattle, Washington
• Bat Chain Puller, the tenth album by Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band
• Bat Chain Puller, a collection of works by Kurt Loder for Rolling Stone
• Chains (song), a song performed by the Beatles
• Chains (Patty Loveless song), a 1990 country song performed by Patty Loveless.
• Chains of Love, a song by Terry Ronald
• "Chains" (Blackadder), an episode of the British sitcom Blackadder II
• Ernst Boris Chain, a Nobel Prize-winning chemist famed for his isolation of penicillin.

Also see Chain (sequence) for uses of the term 'chain' for sequences of objects.