The melting temperature of any pure material (a one-component system) at constant pressure is a single unique temperature.

The liquid and solid phases exist together in equilibrium only at this temperature. When cooled, the temperature of the molten material will steadily decrease until the melting point is reached. At this point the material will start to crystallise, leading to the e olution of latent heat at the solid liquid interface, maintaining a constant temperature across the material. !nce solidification is complete, steady cooling resumes. The arrest in cooling during solidification allows the melting point of the material to be identified on a timetemperature cur e.

ATOMS & CRYSTALS Elemental metals, IRON, COPPER, ALUMINIUM etc are composed of atoms, with a single atom can be s fficient to participate in a chemical reaction !with a second", to prod ce a COMPOUN#$ A MOLECULE is the smallest part of an ELEMEN% !or compo nd", that can e&ist in a free state and still retain all the properties of that element !or compo nd"$ 'ref () %he abo*e mentioned metals are e&amples of elements that can freel+ e&ist as a single atom !MONOA%OMIC", as opposed to others !s ch as O,-.EN", that freel+ e&ist retaining all their properties onl+ as two or more atoms combined !#IA%OMIC/%RIA%OMIC and so on"$ It follows therefore that IRON !0e" can e&ist freel+ as a single atom with an atomic weight of (12$(3$ Iron can also combine with itself and other atoms to prod ce materials with 4 ite distinct properties, incl ding CA5% IRON and 5%EEL !each more than two atoms combined to e&ist as a MOLECULE"$ 6oth cast iron and steel are ALLO-5 of iron$ Atoms combine to form new compo nds b+ 6ON#IN.$ 'ref 7) 6onding t+picall+ arises either thro gh one of the following e*ents8 !(" the attraction of positi*e and negati*e ION5 !7" ELEC%RON5 orbiting more than one atom, or !2" the lowering of an electron9s energ+ in pro&imit+ to more than one n cle s !the last being a ME%ALLIC 6ON#"$ %he bonding of atoms leads to their organisation into a 5PACE LA%%ICE !sometimes called an ARRA-", forming a single basic CR-5%AL$ %he lattice of a solid s bstance is an arrangement of atoms in one of fo rteen possible combinations$ 'ref 2) %he combinations most rele*ant to metall rg+ are 6O#- CEN%RE# CU6IC !1 atoms", 0ACE CEN%ERE# CU6IC !(: atoms" and ;E,;A.ONAL CLO5E PAC<E# !(= atoms"$ %he first two are of partic lar importance as both COPPER and ALUMINIUM are face centred c bic, IRON is bod+ centred c bic !at ambient temperat res"$ %he atoms of allo+s also organise in a space lattice formation, howe*er the nat re of organisation of the atoms within an allo+ lattice *aries according to the CLA55I0ICA%ION of a partic lar ALLO5-5%EM$ 0or e&ample, allo+s that are classed as a 5OLI# 5OLU%ION when solidified !these allo+s cannot be red ced bac> into indi*id al elements", will ha*e atoms of the allo+ing element randoml+ distrib ted thro gho t the space lattice of the parent element !COPPER ? NIC<EL, COPPER ? .OL# and COPPER ? @INC 'A2=B@n) combinations are t+pical of this"$ IN%ERME%ALLIC COMPOUN#5 on the other hand, organise the atoms of each element into a defined position within each space lattice !COPPER C ALUMINIUM, 5ILDER ? %IN and COPPER ? @INC ':3CE3B@n) for e&ample"$ 'ref :)$ %he third main classification is the EU%EC%IC class, these broadl+ beha*e li>e

solid sol tions when li4 id !ie completel+ mi&", b t separate o t into component elements when solidified$ %o more clearl+ appreciate some of the abo*e points, it is helpf l to briefl+ loo> at what happens to metals !and then allo+s" when the+ are heated and cooled$ INFO: The Brussels ATOMIUM (designed by Andre Waterkeyn for the Belgium International !hibition "#$%&' is based on the s(a)e latti)e arrangement of an I*ON )rystal ()orner do+n&, With nine atoms arranged in BO-. / NT* - /UBI/ form' the Atomium re(resents a )rystal form a((ro!imately "0$ billion times smaller than itself 1ref $2,

The t+o )ommon s(a)e latti)e arrangements: To(: Fa)e /entered /ubi), Bottom: Body /entered /ubi), SOLID TO LIQUID & BACK AGAIN As we ha*e seen from the pre*io s page, ELEMEN%AL metal A%OM5 are arranged in a 5PACE LA%%ICE, which in t rn bond into gro ps of CR-5%AL5$ Clearl+ this happens on a scale that co ld onl+ be detected b+ electron microscopes and similarl+ sensiti*e e4 ipment$ Fe certainl+ cannot see an+ of this with the na>ed e+e 'ref ()$ On a higher le*el, cr+stals combine ntil growth is arrested and a .RAIN is formed with a distinct 6OUN#R- to adGoining grains$ Fhat we see as a metallic material is co ntless of these grains formed into a homogeno s mass$ 0or the most part indi*id al grains are *isible at relati*el+ low magnifications$ %hese concepts are best demonstrated b+ loo>ing in more detail at the MEL%IN. and 0REE@IN. c+cle of metals$ One of the first points to appreciate is that far from being static, indi*id al atoms *ibrate abo t their mean position within the space lattice$ %he e&tent to which atoms *ibrate can change according to a n mber of *ariables, howe*er the ENER.- s pplied to an atom in the form of ;EA% is the one that will be specificall+ loo>ed at here$ %o ta>e one e&treme, at A65OLU%E @ERO !C7=2$7HC/3H<" the theoretical ass mption is that all >inetic energ+ ceases and therefore an atom !or an+ other particle", wo ld be nable to *ibrate or mo*eI abo*e this point howe*er, atoms *ibrate$ Fhen heating metals for c tting, welding and forging operations for instance, the thermal energ+ applied leads to an

increase in *ibration of the atoms e&posed to the heat so rce$ %he localised increase in *ibration ca ses an+ adGacent atoms to *ibrate at an increased rate, then the ne&t adGacent and so on$ %his is >nown as the transfer of energ+ b+ CON#UC%ION, and it e&plains wh+ a COPPER strip heated at one end e*ent all+ becomes hot at the other e*en if 'the nheated end) has had no direct e&pos re to the heat so rce$ Let s ass me that we contin e appl+ing heat to a p re metal 5OLI# s ch as IRON !0e"$ %he energ+ contin es to b ild in the mass and this will e*ent all+ become *is all+ e*ident as the material starts to change colo r$ Once a *er+ specific temperat re has been attained !in the case of p re IRON (E2J deg C", the le*el of *ibration in the atoms becomes s ch that the 6ON# !see pre*io s page", between atoms fails and the lattice str ct re collapses$ In doing this, the iron solid transforms into a different state of matter and becomes a LIKUI#$ %he abilit+ to transform solid metals into li4 ids and reform them as different shaped solids is the basis of CA5%IN., metals m st also attain a li4 id state and then freeLe to allow 0ULL 0U5ION FEL#IN. of metallic materials$ If s fficient energ+ were a*ailable from the heat so rce, the li4 id iron temperat re wo ld contin e to rise with a corresponding increase in the *ibration of the atomic particles, wea>ening f rther their attraction to each other$ Again, at a specific temperat re !in the case of p re IRON, 7MJ3 deg C", the attraction between the hottest atoms becomes so degraded, that these atoms escape the s rface of the li4 id as DAPOUR$ %he heat so rce is now sh t down and the remaining li4 id mass is allowed to cool witho t inter*ention$ %he metal ceases to *aporise once the temperat re falls s b 7MJ3 deg C, and the temperat re gradient contin es on a downward slope$ %he li4 id iron is now falling towards the temperat re at which it melted, (E2J deg C$ .i*en that the process of melting is being re*ersed, we can now more appropriatel+ refer to this temperat re as the 0REE@IN. POIN%$ P re metals and certain allo+ combinations 'ref 7) e&hibit a distincti*e cooling c r*e at the point of freeLing$ Let s ass me that the temperat re in the li4 id metal has fallen at a constant rate o*er a fi&ed period of time, plotted on a graph !5EE #IA.RAM", this can be seen as a downward sloping line$ Fhen the temperat re reaches the freeLing point, the line le*els o t horiLontall+ for a period of time, before contin ing to fall to an ambient temperat re$ %he horiLontal line is an indication of the transition of the LIKUI# !LIKUI#U5" mass bac> to a 5OLI# !5OLI#U5" state of matter$ %he cooling c r*e remains le*el thro gho t the solidification process d e to the release of LA%EN% ;EA%$ %his energ+ is released as the atoms regain their attraction to each other and start to 6ON# in their distincti*e 5PACE LA%%ICE formation$ Lattices begin to attract and form larger CR-5%AL5$ %he cr+stals in t rn start to form into branched #EN#RI%E5 which grow from their terminal points and e&tend in all directions$ %he formation of dendrites can be obser*ed in water cr+stals as the+ form on glass and other s rfaces d ring freeLing$ N st as water cr+stals grow to form ICE, metal dendrites to form .RAIN5 with distinct perimeters or 6OUN#RIE5 to adGoining grains$ A contin ing decrease of temperat re below the metal9s freeLing point indicates the completion of CR-5%ALLI5A%ION and the formation of a solid metallic mass$ %he cooling c r*e then contin es on a downwards slope to ambient temperat res$

Illustration of ty(i)al dendrite gro+th,

Illustration of mature grains 3 defined boundries,

-iagram of )ooling )ur4e, (/li)k on image for more info&,