Congruent melting

Last updated

Congruent melting occurs during melting of a compound when the composition of the liquid that forms is the same as the composition of the solid. It can be contrasted with incongruent melting. This generally happens in two-component systems. To take a general case, let A and B be the two components and AB a stable solid compound formed by their chemical combination. If we draw a phase diagram for the system, we notice that there are three solid phases, namely A, B and compound AB. Accordingly, there will be three fusion or freezing point curves AC, BE and CDE for the three solid phases. In the phase diagram, we can notice that the top point D of the phase diagram is the congruent melting point of the compound AB because the solid and liquid phases now have the same composition. Evidently, at this temperature, the two-component system has become a one-component system because both solid and liquid phases contains only the compound AB. [1] [2]

Congruent melting point represents a definite temperature just like the melting points of pure components. In some phase diagrams, the congruent melting point of a compound AB may lie above the melting points of pure components A and B. But it is not always necessarily the case. There are different types of systems known in which the congruent melting point is observed below the melting points of the pure components. This happens for inter-metallic compounds, for example, for MgSi
2
.

See also

Related Research Articles

Boiling point Temperature at which a substance changes from liquid into vapor

The boiling point of a substance is the temperature at which the vapor pressure of a liquid equals the pressure surrounding the liquid and the liquid changes into a vapor.

Melting Material phase change

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.

Phase (matter) Region of uniform physical properties

In the physical sciences, a phase is a region of space, throughout which all physical properties of a material are essentially uniform. Examples of physical properties include density, index of refraction, magnetization and chemical composition. A simple description is that a phase is a region of material that is chemically uniform, physically distinct, and (often) mechanically separable. In a system consisting of ice and water in a glass jar, the ice cubes are one phase, the water is a second phase, and the humid air is a third phase over the ice and water. The glass of the jar is another separate phase.

Solution (chemistry) Homogeneous mixture of a solute and a solvent

In chemistry, a solution is a special type of homogeneous mixture composed of two or more substances. In such a mixture, a solute is a substance dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent. The mixing process of a solution happens at a scale where the effects of chemical polarity are involved, resulting in interactions that are specific to solvation. The solution usually has the state of the solvent when the solvent is the larger fraction of the mixture, as is commonly the case. One important parameter of a solution is the concentration, which is a measure of the amount of solute in a given amount of solution or solvent. The term "aqueous solution" is used when one of the solvents is water.

In thermodynamics, the triple point of a substance is the temperature and pressure at which the three phases of that substance coexist in thermodynamic equilibrium. It is that temperature and pressure at which the sublimation curve, fusion curve and the vaporisation curve meet. For example, the triple point of mercury occurs at a temperature of −38.8 °C (−37.8 °F) and a pressure of 0.165 mPa.

Vapor pressure Pressure exterted by a vapor in thermodynamic equilibrium

Vapor pressure or equilibrium vapor pressure is defined as the pressure exerted by a vapor in thermodynamic equilibrium with its condensed phases at a given temperature in a closed system. The equilibrium vapor pressure is an indication of a liquid's evaporation rate. It relates to the tendency of particles to escape from the liquid. A substance with a high vapor pressure at normal temperatures is often referred to as volatile. The pressure exhibited by vapor present above a liquid surface is known as vapor pressure. As the temperature of a liquid increases, the kinetic energy of its molecules also increases. As the kinetic energy of the molecules increases, the number of molecules transitioning into a vapor also increases, thereby increasing the vapor pressure.

Melting point Temperature at which a solid turns liquid

The melting point of a substance is the temperature at which it changes state from solid to liquid. At the melting point the solid and liquid phase exist in equilibrium. The melting point of a substance depends on pressure and is usually specified at a standard pressure such as 1 atmosphere or 100 kPa.

Congruence may refer to:

Phase diagram Chart used to show conditions at which physical phases of a substance occur

A phase diagram in physical chemistry, engineering, mineralogy, and materials science is a type of chart used to show conditions at which thermodynamically distinct phases occur and coexist at equilibrium.

Azeotrope

An azeotrope or a constant heating point mixture is a mixture of two or more liquids whose proportions cannot be altered or changed by simple distillation. This happens when an azeotrope is boiled, the vapour has the same proportions of constituents as the unboiled mixture. Because their composition is unchanged by distillation, azeotropes are also called constant boiling point mixtures.

Solubility Capacity of a substance to dissolve in a solvent in a homogeneous way

In chemistry, solubility is the ability of a substance, the solute, to form a solution with another substance, the solvent. Insolubility is the opposite property, the inability of the solute to form such a solution.

Eutectic system Mixture with a lower melting point than its constituents

A eutectic system from the Greek εὐ- and τῆξῐς, also known as a eutectic mixture, is a homogeneous mixture of substances that melts or solidifies at a single temperature that is lower than the melting point of any of the constituents. This temperature is known as the eutectic temperature, and is the lowest possible melting temperature over all of the mixing ratios for the involved component species. On a phase diagram, the eutectic temperature is seen as the eutectic point.

Freezing Phase transition in which a liquid turns into a solid due to a decrease in thermal energy

Freezing, also known as solidification, is a phase transition where a liquid turns into a solid when its temperature is lowered below its freezing point. In accordance with the internationally established definition, freezing means the solidification phase change of a liquid or the liquid content of a substance, usually due to cooling.

In thermodynamics, the phase rule is a general principle governing "pVT" systems in thermodynamic equilibrium. If F is the number of degrees of freedom, C is the number of components and P is the number of phases, then

Fractional freezing

Fractional freezing is a process used in process engineering and chemistry to separate substances with different melting points. It can be done by partial melting of a solid, for example in zone refining of silicon or metals, or by partial crystallization of a liquid, as in freeze distillation, also called normal freezing or progressive freezing. The initial sample is thus fractionated.

Freezing-point depression Process in which adding a solute to a solvent decreases the freezing point of the solvent

Freezing-point depression is a drop in the temperature at which a substance freezes, caused when a smaller amount of another, non-volatile substance is added. Examples include adding salt into water, alcohol in water, ethylene or propylene glycol in water, adding copper to molten silver, or the mixing of two solids such as impurities into a finely powdered drug.

In chemistry and materials science, impurities are chemical substances inside a confined amount of liquid, gas, or solid, which differ from the chemical composition of the material or compound. Firstly, a pure chemical should appear thermodynamically in at least one chemical phase and can also be characterized by its one-component-phase diagram. Secondly, practically speaking, a pure chemical should prove to be homogeneous. The perfect pure chemical will pass all attempts and tests of further separation and purification. Thirdly, and here we focus on the common chemical definition, it should not contain any trace of any other kind of chemical species. In reality, there are no absolutely 100% pure chemical compounds, as there is always some minute contamination. Indeed, as detection limits in analytical chemistry decrease, the number of impurities detected tends to increase.

Boiling-point elevation describes the phenomenon that the boiling point of a liquid will be higher when another compound is added, meaning that a solution has a higher boiling point than a pure solvent. This happens whenever a non-volatile solute, such as a salt, is added to a pure solvent, such as water. The boiling point can be measured accurately using an ebullioscope.

A solid solution describes a family of materials which have a range of compositions and a single crystal structure. Many examples can be found in metallurgy, geology, and solid-state chemistry. The word "solution" is used to describe the intimate mixing of components at the atomic level and distinguishes these homogeneous materials from physical mixtures of components.

Cocrystals are "solids that are crystalline single phase materials composed of two or more different molecular or ionic compounds generally in a stoichiometric ratio which are neither solvates nor simple salts." A broader definition is that cocrystals "consist of two or more components that form a unique crystalline structure having unique properties." Several subclassifications of cocrystals exist.

References

  1. Elements of Physical Chemistry, Puri-Sharma-Pathania
  2. Atkins' Physical Chemistry, 8th edition, by Peter Atkins and Julio De Paula