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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 .
Ice cubes put in water will start to melt when they reach their melting point of 0 °C. The melting point (or, rarely, liquefaction point) of a substance is the temperature at which it changes state from solid to liquid. At the melting point the solid and liquid phase exist in equilibrium.
For pure elements or compounds, e.g. pure copper, pure water, etc. the liquidus and solidus are at the same temperature, and the term melting point may be used. There are also some mixtures which melt at a particular temperature, known as congruent melting. One example is eutectic mixture. In a eutectic system, there is particular mixing ratio ...
Enthalpies of melting and boiling for pure elements versus temperatures of transition, demonstrating Trouton's rule. In thermodynamics, the enthalpy of fusion of a substance, also known as (latent) heat of fusion, is the change in its enthalpy resulting from providing energy, typically heat, to a specific quantity of the substance to change its state from a solid to a liquid, at constant pressure.
Water is far more prevalent in the outer Solar System, beyond a point called the frost line, where the Sun's radiation is too weak to vaporize solid and liquid water (as well as other elements and chemical compounds with relatively low melting points, such as methane and ammonia). In the inner Solar System, planets, asteroids, and moons formed ...
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).
Conversely, above the triple point, solid ice first melts into liquid water upon heating at a constant pressure, then evaporates or boils to form vapor at a higher temperature. For most substances, the gas–liquid–solid triple point is the minimum temperature where the liquid can exist. For water, this is not the case.
A vapor can exist in equilibrium with a liquid (or solid), in which case the gas pressure equals the vapor pressure of the liquid (or solid). A supercritical fluid (SCF) is a gas whose temperature and pressure are above the critical temperature and critical pressure respectively. In this state, the distinction between liquid and gas disappears.