Verified Solution Science Particulate Nature of Matter

A substance is heated from solid to liquid, then from liquid to gas. Sketch a rough temperature-time graph for this process, indicating the regions where temperature remains constant and why.

2 views 1 helpful Updated Jul 10, 2026
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Answer

The graph would show two plateaus. The first plateau occurs during melting (solid to liquid) at the melting point, where the absorbed heat is latent heat of fusion, used to overcome intermolecular forces. The second plateau occurs during boiling (liquid to gas) at the boiling point, where the absorbed heat is latent heat of vaporization, used to break intermolecular forces and convert the liquid to gas. In both plateau regions, temperature remains constant despite heat supply because the energy is used for phase change, not for increasing kinetic energy of particles.

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