phase transition
Matter changes form
A phase transition is a change in the physical state of matter, such as when ice melts into water or water boils into steam.
These transitions occur at specific temperatures and pressures where a substance reorganizes at the molecular level, shifting between solid, liquid, gas, or plasma states.
The term extends to other dramatic shifts in physical systems, like when a material becomes magnetic or superconducting.
In broader usage, phase transition describes any abrupt qualitative change: The company underwent a phase transition from startup to established enterprise.
- state of matterPhysical form of substance
- change of stateAlteration of fundamental condition
- temperatureMeasured heat intensity
- crystallizationForming ordered solid structure
- sublimationSolid to gas directly
condensation · latent heat · superfluidity · pressure · critical point · second order · hysteresis · heat · order parameter · freeze · nucleation · thermodynamics · boiling point · evaporation · liquid · solid · triple point · entropy
- physical phenomenadiffusion, collision, friction, explosion, surface tension
- heatheat transfer, thermal energy, heatwave, radiation, convection
- chemistryatom, atoms, organic chemistry, molecule, chemistry
- matter statessolid, liquid state, plasma, vapor, gaseous
- phase changessublimation, solidification, liquefaction, vaporization, freezing
- condensed mattercrystal, metal, semiconductor, superconductor, insulator
phase transitionequilibrium
State of balance
steady state · stasis · static equilibrium · thermal equilibrium · stability
phase transitionchemical reaction
Molecular bond rearrangement process
chemical change · nuclear reaction · combustion · decomposition · synthesis
phase, transition, phases, transitional, transitioned, transitioning, prophase, interphase, transitionally