What is the temperature at which a solid becomes a liquid called?

What is the temperature at which a solid becomes a liquid called?

• A. Melting point
• B. Boiling point
• C. Flow
• D. Hypothesis

Answer: (A)

The temperature at which a solid becomes a liquid is called the melting point. At this temperature, the particles gain enough energy to break the forces holding them in a fixed structure, allowing them to move past one another and flow as a liquid. For a given substance and pressure, the melting point is specific, though impurities can lower it a bit through melting point depression. This is different from the boiling point, which is the temperature at which a liquid becomes a gas. Flow describes how a substance can deform and move under stress, not a specific temperature, and a hypothesis is simply a testable idea used in experiments, not a phase-change temperature.

The temperature at which a solid becomes a liquid is called the melting point. At this temperature, the particles gain enough energy to break the forces holding them in a fixed structure, allowing them to move past one another and flow as a liquid. For a given substance and pressure, the melting point is specific, though impurities can lower it a bit through melting point depression. This is different from the boiling point, which is the temperature at which a liquid becomes a gas. Flow describes how a substance can deform and move under stress, not a specific temperature, and a hypothesis is simply a testable idea used in experiments, not a phase-change temperature.