Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Melting, or fusion, is a physical process that results in the phase transition of a substance from a solid to a liquid. This occurs when the internal energy of the solid increases, typically by the application of heat or pressure , which increases the substance's temperature to the melting point .
The transition from solid to liquid, and gas to liquid (shown by the white condensed water vapour). Other phase changes include: Transition to a mesophase between solid and liquid, such as one of the "liquid crystal" phases. The dependence of the adsorption geometry on coverage and temperature, such as for hydrogen on iron (110).
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]
Water vapour from humid winter-air deposits directly into a solid, crystalline frost pattern on a window, without ever being liquid in the process. Deposition is the phase transition in which gas transforms into solid without passing through the liquid phase. Deposition is a thermodynamic process.
Liquid crystal: Properties intermediate between liquids and crystals. Generally, able to flow like a liquid but exhibiting long-range orientational order. Supercritical fluid: A fluid with properties intermediate of liquids and gasses. At sufficiently high temperatures and pressures, the distinction between liquid and gas disappears, resulting ...
Most liquids freeze by crystallization, formation of crystalline solid from the uniform liquid. This is a first-order thermodynamic phase transition, which means that as long as solid and liquid coexist, the temperature of the whole system remains very nearly equal to the melting point due to the slow removal of heat when in contact with air, which is a poor heat conductor.
A typical phase diagram for a single-component material, exhibiting solid, liquid and gaseous phases. The solid green line shows the usual shape of the liquid–solid phase line. The dotted green line shows the anomalous behavior of water when the pressure increases. The triple point and the critical point are shown as red dots.
Solid carbon dioxide sublimes rapidly along the solid-gas boundary (sublimation point) below the triple point (e.g., at the temperature of −78.5 °C, at atmospheric pressure), whereas its melting into liquid CO 2 can occur along the solid-liquid boundary (melting point) at pressures and temperatures above the triple point (i.e., 5.1 atm, − ...