IGCSE 0625 / Section 2.2 / Core

Melting, boiling, and back again.

Hold a thermometer in melting ice and it sticks stubbornly at zero, even as you keep heating. The energy is still flowing in, but instead of raising the temperature it is busy pulling the particles loose from their fixed positions.

The key idea

A substance changes state at fixed temperatures: its melting point and its boiling point. During a change of state, energy is transferred but the temperature stays constant, because the energy is used to change the arrangement of the particles rather than to speed them up.

Definition · learn the exact words

Melting is solid to liquid, boiling and evaporation are liquid to gas, condensing is gas to liquid, and solidifying (freezing) is liquid to solid.

during a change of state, the temperature stays constant

The energy supplied goes into changing the arrangement of particles, not raising the temperature.

Section 01

Heat it through the states.

Add energy steadily and watch the temperature climb, then pause at each change of state.

Stage 1 · Learn

Check changes of state

Four quick checks. Each correct answer earns XP and lights this skill on your star map.

Quick check+10 XP

The change from solid to liquid is called...

Quick check+10 XP

The change from gas to liquid is called...

Quick check+10 XP

While a pure solid is melting, its temperature...

Quick check+10 XP

The energy supplied during melting is used to...

Section 02

The flat parts of the curve.

Each named change happens at a fixed temperature, shown as a flat section on a heating graph.

Examiner trap

During a change of state the temperature stays constant. While ice melts or water boils you keep supplying energy, yet the thermometer does not rise, because the energy is changing the arrangement of particles, not their speed.

Stage 2 · Exam

Exam-style questions

Unlocks once the four checks above are done. Worth more XP, written in the style of Paper 2.

Finish the four checks above to unlock the exam questions
Exam style+20 XP

A liquid cooling and turning into a solid is...

Exam style+20 XP

On a heating graph, the flat horizontal sections correspond to...

Exam style+20 XP

During boiling, the energy supplied...

Skill unlocked

Changes of state, mastered.

Another thermal-properties skill down. Keep the chain going.

-Rank -Level -Score -Topics
Go deeper · practice
Six original Cambridge-style questions
The named changes of state, the constant temperature during a change, and reading the flat sections of a heating curve. Attempt each, then reveal the worked solution.
Stage 3 · master the unit
Thermal physics challenge
Mixed questions across the whole unit, each one worth XP. Start this only when you feel confident across every topic in the unit, not just changes of state.
Start the unit challenge →