MEPX
Chapter 7 of 10All chapters

Chapter 7 of 10

Phase changes

Energy that changes nothing visible.

Latent heat

Melting and boiling absorb energy without raising temperature, because the energy goes into breaking bonds rather than speeding particles up.

  • Steam burns worse than boiling water because it releases that energy on condensing.
  • Sweating cools you because evaporation takes energy from your skin.

Refrigeration

A fridge cycles a fluid through evaporation inside and condensation outside, moving latent heat from the cold space to the room. The compressor supplies the work the second law demands.