What Does Solidification Mean
We explain what solidification is, the types that exist, the characteristics of each one and examples. Also, what is fusion.
What is solidification?
The solidification process is the physical change or phase change by which the material changes from liquid state to solid state , to vary the pressure to which it is subjected.
In the latter it is distinguished from freezing, which supposes the same result on liquid matter, but from the drop in its temperature below its freezing point. This difference is more technical and in non-academic or scientific fields both terms are usually used interchangeably.
Solidification or freezing is the process (contrary to melting or melting) that makes solid matter turn into liquid from the change in its physical conditions of pressure and / or temperature. They are reversible processes in the sense that matter is not chemically transformed , that is, there are no chemical (constitutive) but physical (form) changes .
We can talk about different types of solidification, depending on the changes that occur in matter, for example:
- Crystallization . It consists of the formation ofsolid structures within a uniform liquid, as the particles come together. It is possible to observe these structures, as in water when it begins to freeze, because solid and liquid coexist for a few moments.
- Vitrification . Certain materials can solidify without crystallizing, such as glass or glycerol, so that there is no abrupt transit between one physical phase and the other, but there is a gradual loss of elasticity , leading to the solid state.
- Supercooling . It is the process by which a liquid is cooled to temperatures below its freezing point without changing phase, without solidifying. For this to happen the liquid must be sufficiently pure.
See also: States of matter
Solidification and fusion
Melting is the opposite process of solidification and freezing. It consists of the addition of energy to a solid material, to increase the movement of its particles , losing their chemical bonds and their fixed structure. It is the passage from the solid state to the liquid.
Each solid has a melting point from which it changes phase and becomes a liquid state: the opposite of the freezing point at which liquids become solid. The higher said melting point, the more energy (that is, higher temperature) will require the solid to melt, that is, to become liquid or semi-liquid.
More in: Fusion
Examples of solidification
Some examples of solidification are:
- When water freezes inside our refrigerators, it is the quintessential example of solidification of a liquid due to heat loss .
- The boiling lava that rises from the subsoil during volcanic eruptions is liquid material subjected to enormous temperatures and pressures. As it rises to the surface, it slowly loses energy and ends up turning into solid material.
- When we make figures with clay, we notice that, when wet, the clay is malleable, but when it dries it becomes solid, hard and brittle.
- The metals in the steel are heated in furnaces to melt gigantic (take from solid to liquid) and then pour them into molds with specific forms. Contained there, the liquid metals cool and solidify, and once removed from the mold, they will have the desired shape.
Follow with: Reverse Sublimation