phase transition

American  

[fayz-tran-zish-uhn] / ˈfeɪz trænˌzɪʃ ən /

noun

phase transitions plural

1. Physical Chemistry. the change from one phase of a substance to another, such as from solid to liquid.

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phase transition Scientific  

1. A change in a feature of a physical system that results in a discrete transition of that system to another state. For example, the melting of ice is a phase transition of water from a solid phase to a liquid phase. Phase transitions often involve the absorption or emission of energy from the system; ice, at 0 ° Celsius, must absorb a considerable amount of heat energy to become water.

2. See also state of matter thermodynamics

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• phase transitions
  plural

Example Sentences

While CDWs have been studied for many years, researchers have struggled to directly observe how their strength and spatial coherence change during a phase transition.

From Science Daily • Apr. 28, 2026

Stronger interactions between neighboring chains are predicted to trigger a phase transition from semiconductor to metal as chain density increases.

From Science Daily • Feb. 16, 2026

Second, they used statistical mechanics to mathematically predict the behavior of the puffs, using techniques from phase transition physics.

From Science Daily • Jun. 3, 2024

That, in turn, may help them unravel mysteries of the phase transition between deconfined quarks and gluons and composite particles such as protons and neutrons.

From Science Daily • May 17, 2024

Later work has also cast doubt on whether there could be a phase transition in the very early universe of the kind required.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking