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In physics, chemistry, and other related fields like 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 .
The phase diagrams are shown in Figure 5. Tracking the x-intercepts in the phase diagram as r changes, there are two fixed point trajectories which intersect at the origin; this is the bifurcation point (intuitively, when the number of x-intercepts in the phase portrait changes). The left fixed point is always unstable, and the right one stable.
In physics, the terms order and disorder designate the presence or absence of some symmetry or correlation in a many-particle system. [citation needed]In condensed matter physics, systems typically are ordered at low temperatures; upon heating, they undergo one or several phase transitions into less ordered states.
Owing to these early developments, the typical example of entropy change ΔS is that associated with phase change. In solids, for example, which are typically ordered on the molecular scale, usually have smaller entropy than liquids, and liquids have smaller entropy than gases and colder gases have smaller entropy than hotter gases.
Comparison of phase diagrams of carbon dioxide (red) and water (blue) showing the carbon dioxide sublimation point (middle-left) at 1 atmosphere. As dry ice is heated, it crosses this point along the bold horizontal line from the solid phase directly into the gaseous phase. Water, on the other hand, passes through a liquid phase at 1 atmosphere.
In the physical sciences, a phase is a region of material that is chemically uniform, physically distinct, and (often) mechanically separable. In a system consisting of ice and water in a glass jar, the ice cubes are one phase, the water is a second phase, and the humid air is a third phase over the ice and water.
Coherence (physics), the quality of a wave to display a well defined phase relationship in different regions of its domain of definition; Hilbert transform, a method of changing phase by 90° Reflection phase shift, a phase change that happens when a wave is reflected off of a boundary from fast medium to slow medium
In thermodynamics, a change in the thermodynamic state of a system and all of its surroundings cannot be precisely restored to its initial state by infinitesimal changes in some property of the system without expenditure of energy. A system that undergoes an irreversible process may still be capable of returning to its initial state.