Eutectic phase diagrams 1-At the eutectic composition Consider the following phase diagram and lets first

fix the composition at the eutectic composition xE.

If you imagine cooling NL=1 moles of the liquid at the eutectic composition, you are in a single-phase field up to the eutectic temperature TE. The eutectic liquid can decompose into two terminal solid solutions and . Imagine that an amount dnL of the liquid at xE transforms into a number of moles dn and dn of solids and . In order to conserve mass, the overall composition must be preserved. Looking at the number of atoms of B, we have: Number of atoms of B leaving the liquid: xEdnL Number of atoms of B appearing in newly formed : xdn Number of atoms of B appearing in newly formed : xdn As a result: x E dn L = x " dn " + x# dn# Similarly, conserving A gives: (1" x E )dn L = (1" x # ) dn # + (1" x$ )dn$ (1) (2)

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Finally, the total number of moles of A and B in the system must be equal to 1: Number of moles of A: (1" x E )( N L " dn L ) + (1" x# ) dn# + (1" x $ ) dn $ Number of moles of B: ( x E )( N L " dn L ) + ( x# ) dn# + ( x $ ) dn $ Total number of moles of A and B: ( N L " dn L ) + dn# + dn $ And since NL,! initial number of moles of liquid was 1 by definition, we have: the dn L = dn" + dn # ! As you can easily see, this equation is just (1)+(2) and is therefore not independent. !

As a result, we have 3 unknowns (dnL, dn and dn) but only two independent equations. Thus, the fixed composition condition (x=xE) can be obeyed with combinations of 3 phases , and L (at composition x, x and xE) provided the number of moles of and is in the following ratio: x $ xE dn" = # dn" + dn # x # $ x" The system is not completely defined. If I added a new constraint (e.g. 0.5 moles of liquid), then the system would be completely defined. It is like melting a pure solid: at the melting temperature, the amounts of solid and liquid that coexist are not defined by the phase diagram but by other external conditions (e.g. amount of heat added or removed from the system, etc) 1-At a hypoeutectic composition

Lets imagine now that we fix the composition at x<xE. As we cool down the liquid solution, the first equilibrium is +L. Once the temperature is equal to the eutectic temperature TE, the liquid has the eutectic composition xE and the same reasoning as before applies to this liquid. As a result, again the system is not completely defined and , and L (at composition x, x and xE) may coexist in different amounts as long as the global composition x is maintained. This is of course also true at hypereutectic compositions In summary: at TE, you can have a 3-phase equilibrium at any composition x<x<x. The relative amounts of each phase however depend on boundary conditions that are not expressed in the phase diagram. Special cases are x " x# and x " x # where single phase and are respectively observed and x=xL where a single phase L may (i.e. not a necessity, depending on boundary conditions) be observed.
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