Ads
related to: phase changes in physics examples problems with answers
Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
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 .
Light waves change phase by 180° when they reflect from the surface of a medium with higher refractive index than that of the medium in which they are travelling. [1] A light wave travelling in air that is reflected by a glass barrier will undergo a 180° phase change, while light travelling in glass will not undergo a phase change if it is reflected by a boundary with air.
The classical Stefan problem aims to describe the evolution of the boundary between two phases of a material undergoing a phase change, for example the melting of a solid, such as ice to water. This is accomplished by solving heat equations in both regions, subject to given boundary and initial conditions.
Phase transition refers to the change of phase of a system, which is brought about by change in an external parameter such as temperature, pressure, or molar composition. In a single-component system, a classical phase transition occurs at a temperature (at a specific pressure) where there is an abrupt change in the order of the system.
One example of deposition is the process by which, in sub-freezing air, water vapour changes directly to ice without first becoming a liquid. This is how frost and hoar frost form on the ground or other surfaces. Another example is when frost forms on a leaf. For deposition to occur, thermal energy must be removed from a gas.
Phase transitions (phase changes) that help describe polymorphism include polymorphic transitions as well as melting and vaporization transitions. According to IUPAC, a polymorphic transition is "A reversible transition of a solid crystalline phase at a certain temperature and pressure (the inversion point) to another phase of the same chemical composition with a different crystal structure."
In physics, a quantum phase transition (QPT) is a phase transition between different quantum phases (phases of matter at zero temperature).Contrary to classical phase transitions, quantum phase transitions can only be accessed by varying a physical parameter—such as magnetic field or pressure—at absolute zero temperature.
A cosmological phase transition is a physical process, whereby the overall state of matter changes together across the whole universe. The success of the Big Bang model led researchers to conjecture possible cosmological phase transitions taking place in the very early universe, at a time when it was much hotter and denser than today.