Faster than a Speeding Bubble
Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - 15:14
in Physics & Chemistry
What do melting chocolate and bubbles in a champagne glass have in common? Besides being treats one might sample at a sophisticated soiree, they are both handy examples of first-order phase transitions in which a material transforms from one phase to another—that is, atoms changing from an orderly arrangement into a more chaotic arrangement.