Melting ice cubes illustrate the process of fusion. Melting, or fusion, is a physical process that results in the phase transition of a substance from a solid to a liquid.
Melting describes the change of a solid into a liquid when heat is applied. In a pure crystalline solid, this process occurs at a fixed temperature called the melting point.
The melting point is the temperature at which a solid changes into a liquid. At its melting point, the disruptive vibrations of the particles of the solid overcome the attractive forces operating within the solid.
In physics and chemistry, melting is the process of converting a solid substance to its liquid form, typically by heating the substance to a temperature called its melting point.
Melting is the physical process by which a solid turns into a liquid after absorbing enough heat. This change of state occurs at a specific temperature called the melting point, which varies depending on the substance.
- A melted solid; a fused mass. 2. The state of being melted. 3. a. The act or operation of melting. b. The quantity melted at a single operation or in one period. 4. A usually open sandwich topped with melted cheese: a tuna melt.
Melting is the change of state from solid → liquid (at the melting point). Solidification (freezing) is the change of state from liquid → solid (at the freezing point).
For any pure substance, the temperature at which melting occurs—known as the melting point —is a characteristic of that substance. It requires energy for a solid to melt into a liquid.