phase transition

American  

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

noun

plural

phase transitions

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

---

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

---

Example Sentences

These included metals such as copper, noble gases under extreme pressure such as argon in crystalline state, and the complex solid-solid phase transition of tin.

From Science Daily • Mar. 15, 2026

Thermodynamic measurements revealed a clear phase transition, showing that the system entered a magnetically ordered state.

From Science Daily • Jan. 21, 2026

However, building on their earlier work, the team showed that fluids move through a pipe in a non-equilibrium phase transition, known as directed percolation, at the transition point between laminar and turbulent flow.

From Science Daily • Jun. 3, 2024

The researchers also demonstrate that they can use non-Gaussian states to prepare 'critical' quantum states which correspond to a system undergoing a phase transition.

From Science Daily • May 24, 2024

In Guth’s original proposal the phase transition was supposed to occur suddenly, rather like the appearance of ice crystals in very cold water.

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