Melting

Melting

Melting, or fusion, is a physical process that results in the phase transition of a substance from a solid to a liquid. The internal energy of a substance is increased, typically by the application of heat or pressure, resulting in a rise of its temperature to the melting point, at which the ordering of ionic or molecular entities in the solid breaks down to a less ordered state and the solid liquefies. An object that has melted completely is molten. Substances in the molten state generally have reduced viscosity with elevated temperature; an exception to this maxim is the element sulfur, whose viscosity increases to a point due to polymerization and then decreases with higher temperatures in its molten state.

Read more about Melting.

Famous quotes containing the word melting:

    He hath a tear for pity, and a hand
    Open as day for melting charity.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    Since to the awe of thy imperious wit
    Our troublesome language bends, made only fit
    With her tough thick-ribbed hoops to gird about
    Thy giant fancy, which had proved too stout
    For their soft melting phrases.
    Thomas Carew (1589–1639)

    Pushkin’s composition is first of all and above all a phenomenon of style, and it is from this flowered rim that I have surveyed its seep of Arcadian country, the serpentine gleam of its imported brooks, the miniature blizzards imprisoned in round crystal, and the many-hued levels of literary parody blending in the melting distance.
    Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)