At What Temperature And Pressure Can All Three Phases Of Water Exist Simultaneously?

The three fundamental phases of matter are solid, liquid and gas. A phase change occurs when a substance transitions from one phase to another. In everyday life, phase changes — such as liquid water boiling into steam — are caused by increasing or decreasing temperature, but pressure is equally capable of inducing a phase change. The combined effects of temperature and pressure lead to a condition in which the three phases of matter can coexist.

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One Substance, Three Phases

A phase diagram is a valuable tool for analyzing the influence of temperature and pressure on phase changes. With pressure on the vertical axis and temperature on the horizontal axis, a phase diagram uses curved lines to depict the temperature and pressure conditions that result in phase changes. A phase diagram has three lines that depict the temperature-pressure combinations resulting in a transition from solid to liquid, liquid to gas, and solid to gas. The point at which these three lines intersect is called the triple point — at this exact combination of temperature and pressure, a substance can assume any of the three phases. The triple point for water is a temperature of 0.01 degrees Celsius (32.018 degrees Fahrenheit) and a pressure of 611.7 Pascals (.006 atmospheres). With this combination of temperature and pressure, water can exist as liquid water, ice or steam.

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Cite This Article

MLA

West, Joseph. "At What Temperature And Pressure Can All Three Phases Of Water Exist Simultaneously?" sciencing.com, https://www.sciencing.com/temperature-pressure-can-three-phases-water-exist-simultaneously-8446/. 24 April 2017.

APA

West, Joseph. (2017, April 24). At What Temperature And Pressure Can All Three Phases Of Water Exist Simultaneously?. sciencing.com. Retrieved from https://www.sciencing.com/temperature-pressure-can-three-phases-water-exist-simultaneously-8446/

Chicago

West, Joseph. At What Temperature And Pressure Can All Three Phases Of Water Exist Simultaneously? last modified March 24, 2022. https://www.sciencing.com/temperature-pressure-can-three-phases-water-exist-simultaneously-8446/

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