A better-quality crystal

[Haihao]

Hi,

Could you throw some light on:

[Sahid59]

..
Crystalline solids are typically formed by cooling and solidification from the molten (or liquid) state. According to the Ehrenfest classification of first-order phase transitions, there is a discontinuous change in volume (and thus a discontinuity in the slope or first derivative with respect to temperature, dV/dT) at the melting point. Within this context, the crystal and melt are distinct phases with an interfacial discontinuity having a surface of tension with a positive surface energy. Thus, a metastable parent phase is always stable with respect to the nucleation of small embryos or droplets from a daughter phase, provided it has a positive surface of tension. Such first-order transitions must proceed by the advancement of an interfacial region whose structure and properties vary discontinuously from the parent phase.

For more....en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_growth

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Sahid59

Better tomorrow with better English

[Haihao]

Thank you so much but I have to say it's all Greek to me. My interest is not in the crystal but in the article. :-)