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In physics, condensation typically refers to a gas–liquid phase transition. In biology the term 'condensation' is used much more broadly and can also refer to liquid–liquid phase separation to form colloidal emulsions or liquid crystals within cells, and liquid–solid phase separation to form gels, [1] sols, or suspensions within cells as ...
Phase transitions commonly refer to when a substance transforms between one of the four states of matter to another. At the phase transition point for a substance, for instance the boiling point, the two phases involved - liquid and vapor, have identical free energies and therefore are equally likely to exist.
Another way of expressing this would be to say that the gel to liquid phase transition temperature increases with increasing number of carbons in the lipid alkane chains. Saturated phosphatidylcholine lipids with tails longer than 14 carbons are solid at room temperature, while those with fewer than 14 are liquid.
The steepness of the sigmoidal curve depends on the value of n. A value of n = 1 produces a hyperbolic or Michaelian response. Ultrasensitivity is achieved in a variety of systems; a notable example is the cooperative binding of the enzyme hemoglobin to its substrate. Since an ultrasensitive response is almost ‘digital’, it can be used to ...
In chemistry and chemical physics, a mesophase or mesomorphic phase is a phase of matter intermediate between solid and liquid. Gelatin is a common example of a partially ordered structure in a mesophase. Further, biological structures such as the lipid bilayers of cell membranes are examples of mesophases. Mobile ions in mesophases are either ...
Chemical potentials are important in many aspects of multi-phase equilibrium chemistry, including melting, boiling, evaporation, solubility, osmosis, partition coefficient, liquid-liquid extraction and chromatography. In each case the chemical potential of a given species at equilibrium is the same in all phases of the system. [6]
As an example of the latter, a "major commercial application of liquefaction is the liquefaction of air to allow separation of the constituents, such as oxygen, nitrogen, and the noble gases." [ 4 ] Another is the conversion of solid coal into a liquid form usable as a substitute for liquid fuels.
Liquid crystal states have properties intermediate between mobile liquids and ordered solids. Generally, they are able to flow like a liquid, but exhibiting long-range order. For example, the nematic phase consists of long rod-like molecules such as para-azoxyanisole, which is nematic in the temperature range 118–136 °C (244–277 °F). [10]