The interconversion of chair conformers is called ring flipping or chair-flipping. Carbon–hydrogen bonds that are axial in one configuration become equatorial in the other, and vice versa. At room temperature the two chair conformations rapidly equilibrate. The proton NMR spectrum of cyclohexane is a singlet at room temperature, with no separation into separate signals for axial and equatorial hydrogens.
In one chair form, the dihedral angle of the chain of carbon atoms (1,2,3,4) is positive whereas that of the chain (1,6,5,4) is negative, but in the other chair form, the situation is the opposite. So both these chains have to undergo a reversal of dihedral angle. When one of these two four-atom chains flattens to a dihedral angle of zero, we have the half-chair conformation, at a maximum energy along the conversion path. When the dihedral angle of this chain then becomes equal (in sign as well as magnitude) to that of the other four-atom chain, the molecule has reached the continuum of conformations, including the twist boat and the boat, where the bond angles and lengths can all be at their normal values and the energy is therefore relatively low. After that, the other four-carbon chain has to switch the sign of its dihedral angle in order to attain the target chair form, so again the molecule has to pass through the half-chair as the dihedral angle of this chain goes through zero. Switching the signs of the two chains sequentially in this way minimizes the maximum energy state along the way (at the half-chair state) — having the dihedral angles of both four-atom chains switch sign simultaneously would mean going through a conformation of even higher energy due to angle strain at carbons 1 and 4.
The detailed mechanism of the chair-to-chair interconversion has been the subject of much study and debate.  The half-chair state (D, in figure below) is the key transition state in the interconversion between the chair and twist-boat conformations. The half-chair has C symmetry. The interconversion between the two chair conformations involves the following sequence: chair → half-chair → twist-boat → half-chair′ → chair′.