Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A critical point of a function of a single real variable, f (x), is a value x0 in the domain of f where f is not differentiable or its derivative is 0 (i.e. ).[2] A critical value is the image under f of a critical point. These concepts may be visualized through the graph of f: at a critical point, the graph has a horizontal tangent if one can ...
Critical phenomena. In physics, critical phenomena is the collective name associated with the physics of critical points. Most of them stem from the divergence of the correlation length, but also the dynamics slows down. Critical phenomena include scaling relations among different quantities, power-law divergences of some quantities (such as ...
In thermodynamics, a critical point (or critical state) is the end point of a phase equilibrium curve. One example is the liquid–vapor critical point, the end point of the pressure–temperature curve that designates conditions under which a liquid and its vapor can coexist. At higher temperatures, the gas comes into a supercritical phase ...
Critical exponent. Critical exponents describe the behavior of physical quantities near continuous phase transitions. It is believed, though not proven, that they are universal, i.e. they do not depend on the details of the physical system, but only on some of its general features. For instance, for ferromagnetic systems at thermal equilibrium ...
Multicritical point. Multicritical points are special points in the parameter space of thermodynamic or other systems with a continuous phase transition. At least two thermodynamic or other parameters must be adjusted to reach a multicritical point. At a multicritical point the system belongs to a universality class different from the "normal ...
CRC Press. Boca Raton, Florida, 2003; Section 6, Fluid Properties; Critical Constants. Also agrees with Celsius values from Section 4: Properties of the Elements and Inorganic Compounds, Melting, Boiling, Triple, and Critical Point Temperatures of the Elements. Estimated accuracy for T c and P c is indicated by the number of digits.
In condensed matter physics, dealing with the macroscopic physical properties of matter, a tricritical point is a point in the phase diagram of a system at which three-phase coexistence terminates. [4] This definition is clearly parallel to the definition of an ordinary critical point as the point at which two-phase coexistence terminates.
In physics, critical opalescence refers to the dramatic increase in scattering of light in the region of a continuous, or second-order, phase transition. Originally reported by French physicist Charles Cagniard de la Tour in 1823 in mixtures of alcohol and water, its importance was recognised by Irish chemist Thomas Andrews in 1869 following ...