Phase transitions

temperature at which a solid turns liquid

temperature at which a substance changes from liquid into vapor

elementary particle transmitting the Higgs field giving particles mass

thumb|right|Aerosol of microscopic water droplets suspended in the air above a cup of hot tea after the water vapor has sufficiently cooled and condensed. Water vapor is an invisible gas, but the clouds of condensed droplets refract and scatter the sunlight and are thus visible. thumb|Droplets of water vapor in a pan. thumb|right|280px|Demonstration of evaporative cooling. When the sensor is dipped in ethanol and then taken out to evaporate, the instrument shows progressively lower temperature as the ethanol evaporates. thumb|Rain evaporating after falling on hot pavement

thumb|upright|300px|Laboratory model of a still.1: The heat source to boil the mixture2: round-bottom flask containing the mixture to be boiled3: the head of the still4: mixture boiling-point thermometer5: the condenser of the still6: the cooling-water inlet of the condenser7: the cooling-water outlet of the condenser8: the distillate-receiving flask9: vacuum pump and gas inlet10: the receiver of the still11: the heat control for heating the mixture12: stirring mechanism speed control13: stirring mechanism and heating plate14: heating bath (oil/sand) for the flask15: the stirring mechanism (no

thumb|right|Rolling boil of water in an electric kettle

transition of a substance directly from the solid to the gas state

thumb|A high-temperature superconductor levitating above a magnet. A persistent electric current flows on the surface of the superconductor, acting to exclude the magnetic field of the magnet (Meissner effect). This current effectively forms an electromagnet that repels the magnet.

thumb|right|Condensation forming in the low pressure zone above the wing of an aircraft during landing due to adiabatic process|adiabatic expansion

thumb|Melting ice cubes illustrate the process of fusion.|321x321px

alt=The solar wind moving through the magnetosphere alters the movements of charged particles in the Earth's thermosphere or exosphere, and the resulting ionization of these particles causes them to emit light of varying colour, thus forming auroras near the polar regions.|thumb|201x201px|The solar wind moving through the [[magnetosphere alters the movements of charged particles in the Earth's thermosphere or exosphere, and the resulting ionization of these particles causes them to emit light of varying color, thus forming auroras near the polar regions.]] Ionization or ionisation is the proce

thermodynamic point where three matter phases exist

transitions between solid, liquid and gaseous states of matter, and, in rare cases, plasma

thumb|Water dripping from a slab of [[ice and then freezing, forming icicles]] Freezing is a phase transition in which a liquid turns into a solid when its temperature is lowered below its freezing point.

temperature and pressure point where phase boundaries disappear

Crystallization is a process that leads to solids with a uniform pattern of atoms or molecules, i.e. a crystal. The uniform nature of a crystalline solid can be contrasted with amorphous solids in which atoms or molecules lack regular organization. Crystallization can occur by various routes including precipitation from solution, freezing of a liquid, or deposition from a gas. Attributes of the resulting crystal can depend largely on factors such as temperature, air pressure, cooling rate, or solute concentration.

state of matter with properties of both conventional liquids and crystals

chart used to show conditions at which physical phases of a substance occur

thumb|upright=1.5|Vapour-liquid equilibrium of 2-propanol/water showing positive azeotropic behaviour

temperature above which certain materials lose their permanent magnetic properties

Vaporization (vapourisation in British English) of an element or compound is a phase transition from the liquid phase to vapor. There are two types of vaporization: evaporation and boiling. Evaporation is a surface phenomenon, whereas boiling is a bulk phenomenon (a phenomenon in which the whole object or substance is involved in the process).

homogeneous mixture of substances that melts or solidifies at a single temperature that is lower than the melting point of either of the constituents

transition from a gas to a solid

the observation that, in some circumstances, warmer water can freeze faster than colder water

tendency of a substance to vaporize

Cryobiology is the branch of biology that studies the effects of low temperatures on living things within Earth's cryosphere or in science. The word cryobiology is derived from the Greek words κρῧος [kryos], "cold", βίος [bios], "life", and λόγος [logos], "word". In practice, cryobiology is the study of biological material or systems at temperatures below normal. Materials or systems studied may include proteins, cells, tissues, organs, or whole organisms. Temperatures may range from moderately hypothermic conditions to cryogenic temperatures.

mechanism in quantum field theory in which spontaneous symmetry breaking causes gauge bosons to acquire mass

reversible transition in amorphous materials at which amorphous polymers go from hard to viscous

process in which adding a solute to a solvent decreases the freezing point of the solvent

crystalline solid containing molecules caged in a lattice of frozen water

Vitrification (, via French '''') is the full or partial transformation of a substance into a glass, that is to say, a non-crystalline or amorphous solid. Glasses differ from liquids structurally and glasses possess a higher degree of connectivity with the same Hausdorff dimensionality of bonds as crystals: dimH = 3. In the production of ceramics, vitrification is responsible for their impermeability to water.

separation and purification process of crystalline solids

plot of thermodynamically stable phases of an aqueous electrochemical system

method of refining substances based on differences in solubility

process by which deformed grains are replaced by a new set of defect-free grains that nucleate and grow until the original grains have been entirely consumed

plot of temperature versus time

materials classically predicted to be conductors, that are actually insulators

material property relating molality to freezing point depression

natural or industrial process whereby objects are frozen in a short time due to exposure to cryogenic temperatures

parameter describing physics near critical points

gauge-invariant observable obtained from the holonomy of the gauge connection around a given loop

transition between different phases of matter at zero temperature

tiny uneven-shaped particles added to liquids to avoid superheating by providing nucleation sites; often made of porous material (e.g. alumina, silicon carbide, calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, porcelain or carbon) with nonreactive PTFE coating

phase transition in the two-dimensional (2-D) XY model

chemical and physical constant of materials

process by which positive ions of a plasma capture a free (energetic) electron and combine with electrons or negative ions to form new neutral atoms (gas); exothermic reaction, meaning heat releasing

line graph used in physical science

term in physics

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 orientationally or rotationally disordered while their centers are located at the ordered sites in the crystal structure. Mesophases with long-range positional order but no orientational order are plastic crystals, whereas those with long-range orientati

increase in photonic scattering during a phase transition

a theory that Lev Landau introduced in an attempt to formulate a general theory of continuous (i.e., second-order) phase transitions

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thumb|300px|right|Wollaston's diagram of a cryophorus. When the empty ball on the right is immersed in a freezing mixture of snow and salt, the water in the ball on the left freezes in a few minutes.

shift of atomic positions in a crystal structure

mechanism of spontaneous phase separation

Temperature of a liquid at first bubbles

partial alignment of polymer molecular chains, resulting in "semi-crystalline" structures

in thermal equilibrium, each phase of physical matter comes to an end at a transitional point, or spatial interface, called a phase boundary, due to the immiscibility of said matter with the matter on the other side of said boundary

indication of the heat resistance of a lubricating grease and the temperature at which it passes from a semi-solid to a liquid state under specific test conditions

effect