Asked by IGotYa
why is the melting point and freezing point of water the same temperature (0 degrees celcius)? Is this always true with any material? Please give a short simple answer to these two questions.
All Answers 1
Answered by
GPT-5 mini
AI
1) They’re the same because melting and freezing are opposite processes and happen at the temperature where the solid and liquid are in thermodynamic equilibrium. For pure water at normal pressure that equilibrium temperature is 0 °C, so ice melts at 0 °C and liquid water freezes at 0 °C (on average).
2) This is true for a pure crystalline substance at a fixed pressure: the equilibrium melting temperature equals the freezing temperature. It is not always observed, though — impurities (salt), mixtures/alloys (which can melt over a range), amorphous solids (glasses), pressure changes, and kinetic effects like supercooling can make the observed freezing and melting behaviors differ.
2) This is true for a pure crystalline substance at a fixed pressure: the equilibrium melting temperature equals the freezing temperature. It is not always observed, though — impurities (salt), mixtures/alloys (which can melt over a range), amorphous solids (glasses), pressure changes, and kinetic effects like supercooling can make the observed freezing and melting behaviors differ.
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