phase: Quick Facts

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Oct. 14, 2026

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Diagram showing four physical states of matter: solid with tightly packed molecules, liquid with loosely packed molecules, gas with widely spaced molecules, and plasma with free electrons and nuclei, each labeled with descriptions and an arrow indicating increasing energy.

Diagram showing the phase changes of matter with three circles labeled solid, liquid, and gas. Arrows indicate transitions: melting and freezing between solid and liquid, evaporation and condensation between liquid and gas, and sublimation and deposition between solid and gas.

An illustration shows an ice cube labeled solid, a puddle labeled liquid, and rising steam labeled gas, representing the three states of matter: ice, water, and water vapor, with the sun in the background.

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Topics

liquid gas plasma supercooling Hume-Rothery rule phase change superheating solid interface freezing chemical element radiation chemical bonding chemical compound radioactivity relativity cluster chemical reaction isomerism temperature

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