melting point

melting point

the temperature at which a solid turns into a liquid. It is equal to the freezing point

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

melting point

[′melt·iŋ ‚pȯint]

(thermodynamics)

The temperature at which a solid of a pure substance changes to a liquid. Abbreviated mp.

For a solution of two or more components, the temperature at which the first trace of liquid appears as the solution is heated.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Melting Point

 

(mp), the temperature of the equilibrium phase transition of a crystalline (solid) body to liquid at a constant external pressure. The melting point is a particular case of the temperature of the first-order phase transition. The melting points of several substances at standard pressure (760 mm Hg, or 101,325 newtons per m²) are shown in Table 1.

Table 1
Substance	mp (°C)
Hydrogen ...............	–259.14
Oxygen ...............	–218.4
Nitrogen ...............	– 209.86
Argon ...............	–189.2
Ethyl alcohol ...............	–112.0
Methyl alcohol ...............	–97.8
Acetone ...............	–94.6
Mercury ...............	–38.9
Ethylone glycol ...............	–15.6
Nitrobenzene ...............	5.7
Acetic acid ...............	16.7
Glycerine ...............	17.9
Cesium ...............	28.5
Naphthalene ...............	80.2
Sodium ...............	97.8
Iodine ...............	112.9
D-Camphor ...............	178.5
Aluminum ...............	660.37
Copper ...............	1083.4
Iron ...............	1539.0
Tungsten ...............	3410.0

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.