Changes of Phase

There are four states of matter in the universe: plasma, gas, liquid and solid.
But, matter on Earth exists mostly in three distinct phases: gas, liquid and
solid. A phase is a distinctive form of a substance, and matter can change
among the phases. It may take extreme temperature, pressure or energy, but
all matter can be changed.

There are six distinct changes of phase which happens to different substances
at different temperatures. The six changes are:

 Freezing: the substance changes from a liquid to a solid.

 Melting: the substance changes back from the solid to the liquid.
 Condensation: the substance changes from a gas to a liquid.
 Vaporization: the substance changes from a liquid to a gas.
 Sublimation: the substance changes directly from a solid to a gas
without going through the liquid phase.
 Deposition: the substance changes directly from a gas to a solid without
going through the liquid phase.

Examples of Phase Change

Water vapor turning to frost is an example of deposition.

I'm sure you know what most of these phases look like. Freezing is when liquid
water freezes into ice cubes. Melting is when those ice cubes melt. Condensation
is when dew forms on grass in the morning. Vaporization is when water boils
and turns into steam.
Deposition is one you may not know, but this happens when water vapor goes
directly to freezing, like when there is frost on a cold winter morning. An
example of sublimation happens when dry ice turns directly into gas. Gas can
also change into a plasma. In order to do this, you have to add an enormous
amount of energy to the gas in order to free up the electrons from the atoms.

Sublimation occurs when dry ice turns into gas.

Phase Change Diagram

Let's take a look at phase change as it pertains to water. This will apply to all
substances, but we are all most familiar with water. Phase change is often
shown in a diagram like the one below:

Diagram of water phase changes

When a substance is in a solid state, it can absorb a lot of energy in the form of
heat until it hits its melting point. Think about snow outside. Once snow hits
the ground, it stays there, whether it is -50 degrees F outside or all the way
up to 32 degrees F.
The snow can absorb energy all the way up until it hits its melting point of 32
degrees F. This is the diagonal line at stage I on the graph. Once a substance
hits its melting point, it is a combination of solid and liquid for a while, as you
can see by the flat line on the graph at stage II.