phase change
Sign in to savetransitions between solid, liquid and gaseous states of matter, and, in rare cases, plasma
AI overview
A phase change is when matter transforms from one state to another—such as ice melting into water or water boiling into steam—and these transitions happen at specific temperatures and pressures. Understanding phase changes matters because they're fundamental to how materials behave in nature and industry, affecting everything from weather patterns to cooking to industrial manufacturing.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
This diagram shows the nomenclature for the different phase transitions.
In physics, chemistry and biology, a phase transition (or phase change) is the physical process of transition between one state of a medium and another. Commonly the term is used to refer to changes among the basic states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas, and in rare cases, plasma. A phase of a thermodynamic system and the states of matter have uniform physical properties. During a phase transition of a given medium, certain properties of the medium change as a result of the change of external conditions, such as temperature or pressure. This can be a discontinuous change; for example, a liquid may become gas upon heating to its boiling point, resulting in an abrupt change in volume. The identification of the external conditions at which a transformation occurs defines the phase transition point.