What is Melting: Definition and 274 Discussions

Melting, or fusion, is a physical process that results in the phase transition of a substance from a solid to a liquid. This occurs when the internal energy of the solid increases, typically by the application of heat or pressure, which increases the substance's temperature to the melting point. At the melting point, the ordering of ions or molecules in the solid breaks down to a less ordered state, and the solid "melts" to become a liquid.
Substances in the molten state generally have reduced viscosity as the temperature increases. An exception to this principle is the element sulfur, whose viscosity increases in the range of 160 °C to 180 °C due to polymerization.Some organic compounds melt through mesophases, states of partial order between solid and liquid.

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  1. J

    Melting Point of three compounds

    Does anyone have or know where I can find literature values for the melting points (or melting ranges) of the following three semicarbazone compounds? 4-Methoxybenzaldehyde semicarbazone Isopropylbenzaldehyde semicarbazone Carvone semicarbazone (either the R or S diasteriomers) I haven't been...
  2. S

    Melting Ice Exam Help: Get Verified Answers for Last Year's Questions - Sarah

    Hi all, i am currently studying for an exam, and so i am going over the questions in last years exam. Unfortunately we were not given the answers, so i am not sure whether i am getting the questions right. If its not too much trouble, and someone has a bit of time to spare, could they verify...
  3. G

    How Does Enthalpy Change During the Melting Process?

    I am wondering about the enthalpies of solids and liquids near the melting temperature. I am familiar with free energy, and I know that above Tm, free energy of the solid becomes higher than liquid. However, we have been asked to think about the same question for enthalpy and draw a schematic. I...
  4. M

    Melt a Perfect Mirror: Atomic Mechanisms of Reflection

    Is it possible to melt a perfect mirror by radiative means? (reflects light of all frequencies with no absorption) Which leads me to ask. What is the mechanism (at the atomic level), for the reflection of light? I've never had a satisfactory answer on the mechanism of reflection. Is it...
  5. R

    How Much Ice is Melting in the Polar Caps?

    If we could determine how much ice is melting in the polar caps we could find out how many powerstations it would take to refreeze the ice.
  6. S

    What's the melting point of a person?

    Just thinking about those stories you hear about dresden and tokyo. The ones about people being melted alive in bunkers. Exactly what conditions would have to exist for that to be possible?
  7. A

    Explaining the High Melting Point of Water

    Hi.. I've finished this topic but I was confused in this question. The question is : The main reason for the high melting point of water compared to other group4 hydrides can be explained by: a.Ionic Bonding b.Covalent Bonding c.Dispersion Forces d.Hydrogen Bonding I'm not sure...
  8. K

    Exploring the Hutchison Effect: Room Temperature Metal Melting

    Any of u heard of him? the founder of Hutchison effect, I am very interested in his work but i really don't know how he did those werid things espcailly the melting of metals at room temperature, would someone care to explain a little about his effect? (or has any of you never heard of him?)
  9. Andre

    Global warming and glaciers melting

    Global warming and "glaciers melting" In another thread I promised to go over all the alarming climate features like glaciers melting, sea levels rising etc, I think that was actually off topic over there so I start a fresh one. About the glaciers and ice sheets; yes, most glaciers are...
  10. W

    Melting points of finite-sized materials

    Hi, does anybody know why the melting points of materials drop down when its size gets smaller down to nano-scale? For a nano particle set in another high-melting-point material, how does its Tm go?
  11. K

    Boiling points, melting points and absorbed radiation Q's

    hey all, i'd just like to say thanks for attempting to help or just even having a browse. i have 5 questions in which i have some idea about but still very hard to produce an answer. 1: What is the difference in boiling point of water between sea level (p = 1 atm) and on top of a mountain...
  12. N

    Ice melting because of a candle burning?

    What law or physics principle is that? Thanks for the help.
  13. J

    Fine temperature of equal masses of hot tea and ice after melting

    A person makes a quantity of iced tea by mixing 559 g of hot tea (essentially water) with an equal mass of ice at its melting point. If the initial hot tea is at a temperature of 94 C, what are the (a) final temperature of the ice tea (in oC) and (b) mass of the remaining ice? what are the (c)...
  14. T

    Recrystallization: Melting & Boiling Points

    does anyone know why it is important to have the melting point of a solute not be higher than the boiling point of the solvent during recrystallization? --having a little trouble rationalizing this.
  15. X

    Calculating Microwave Energy Deposition for Melting Ice and Boiling Water

    I have trouble figuring out the following question. Please help. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Suppose you want to melt a piece of ice and boil the resulting water by using a microwave oven. The radiation is incident upon one side of the ice which...
  16. P

    How does the elastic modulus affect the melting temperature?

    what is the relationship between e-modulus and melting temp?
  17. P

    Uncovering the Mystery of Acetanilide and Caffeine Melting Point Range

    I have a sample of 25 % acetanilide with 75 % caffeine. I record a melting point range of 198 - 240 degrees celcius acetanilide's melting point is 114.3 caffeine's melting point is 238 What would cause this huge experimental range? My thinking is that the acetanilide is...
  18. C

    Melting & Boiling: Heat Energy Explained

    Boiling/ Melting... I take it everyone knows the graph of temperature when you heat ice / water - with the flat bits when it melts and boils. My question is why is this the case? Obviously the heat energy you are putting in is going to kinetic energy of the particles when the graph is not flat...
  19. M

    Cooling with Liquid Nitrogen & Melting Aluminum Cans: Energy Calculations

    Problem 2. Liquid nitrogen, which has a boiling point of 77 K, is commonly used to cool substances to low temperatures. How much energy must be removed from 1.4 kg of gaseous nitrogen at 77 K for it to completely liquefy? Assume the latent heat of liquid nitrogen is 2.01 *10^5 J/kg Answer...
  20. M

    Hypereutectic melting point

    [Originally posted to material science forum but no reply] It's no surprise that if I take a particular metal and 'add' atoms of a second metal that has a lower melting point that the Tmelt of the combination is usually lower than that of the pure metal. This is hypoeutectic composition...
  21. M

    Why does adding a higher melting point metal lower the melting point of alloys?

    It's no surprise that if I take a particular metal and 'add' atoms of a second metal that has a lower melting point that the Tmelt of the combination is usually lower than that of the pure metal. But it seems surprising that if a reverse this, take a low Tmelt metal and add atoms of a higher...
  22. brum

    Does Water Level Rise, Lower, or Stay the Same After Ice Melts?

    Ok, so you've got a glass of water with some ice (the ice is floating). After the ice melts, does the water's surface level a) rise? b) lower? c) stay the same? (and why?)
  23. C

    The Water Level Rises - Investigating the Melting Ice Cube

    stuck in explaining this problem A glass of water contains a large ice cube the glass can hold no morw water the ice is floating in the water what will happen to the water level when the ice melts?
  24. Monique

    Melting point of 40% Sn and 60% Pb

    Who can calculate the meltingpoint for me of a mixture of metals with 40% Sn and 60% Pb?
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