Energy Bands.

[foodchain]

If I had a mixture of say two elements that were stable and in a solid state, when I heat them to a certain point, or perhaps cool them to a certain point is it possible to simply break the bonds that hold them together? I mean I think its a pretty simple question but I have a more reasonable explanation to why I ask. From study I have learned that atoms get exited by energy, or rest basically in the absence off. So then it would be reasonable to assume that maybe on a subatomic level change is occurring in relation to the energy in the local environment, such as is its very hot or very cold. So then thinking of "quantum leaps" really in terms of atomic structure if I have my vocab correct, if you had an very precision instrument, something that can calculate and project change in the environment say to the billionth of a degree, should you always get the same readings back from say the behavior of an atom, or really should it be so many ticks or billionths of a degree that you could record possibly a jump? If so my real question then is it possible to hover an element for instance somewhere between phases? Such as not solid or liquid, or is that in itself a "quantum leap" type of behavior?

[insane_alien]

you mean like the melting point? or if you want total breakage then vapourisation.

 

there isn't a bit between phases. it either is or isn't. although it will exist in equilibrium at some point where some is in one phase and another bit is in another phase.

[grifter]

I agree with IA

a dynamic equilibrium can be set up: let's take water as an example, at equilibrium the same amount of water evaporates, as condenses i.e. the same rate of phase change; between gas and liquid, if you are asking when this occurs Then I'll answer that here too: When the partial pressure, of gaseous water is the same as water's vapor pressure...

 

and of course I cant really mention that (^) without mentioning triple point, a temperature (and pressure) at which all three states can exist simultaneously, for the example above (water) this point is 273.15 K and 6.0373057 X 10^(-3) atm, for this to occur you need perfectly flat surfaces, therefore avoiding problems occurring with surface tension.

 

There are no real "intermediate" stages, as insane_alien said, it either is or it isn't, otherwise effects like triple point wouldn't occur.

 

I think thats the question you asked......

[swansont]

One must note that a given temperature does not mean all atoms have the same kinetic energy, they have a distribution of KE. The temperature is related to the average value. So at some T, any given atom may or not have enough energy to break a bond. You know from a statistical standpoint that some fraction will be evaporating, but not which ones.

[Rocket Man]

heat a compound from solid, you'll probably go through liquid to gas.

keep heating it, the collisions can get so violent that the compund itself starts breaking up.

when the petroleum industry "cracks" larger carbon chains, it heats the initial compound in a very specific environment that favours the breakdown to a certain length chain, say, petrol.

but if you go to something more stable, where all the electrons fall off before the compound falls apart, you enter the realm of plasma physics.

 

plasma is not a fourth state of matter. plasma is a soup of nuclei and electrons.

[foodchain]

heat a compound from solid, you'll probably go through liquid to gas.

keep heating it, the collisions can get so violent that the compund itself starts breaking up.

when the petroleum industry "cracks" larger carbon chains, it heats the initial compound in a very specific environment that favours the breakdown to a certain length chain, say, petrol.

but if you go to something more stable, where all the electrons fall off before the compound falls apart, you enter the realm of plasma physics.

 

plasma is not a fourth state of matter. plasma is a soup of nuclei and electrons.

 

Do the electrons and the nuclei retain being of an signature elements, say carbon or oxygen for example? Or on cooling can you get back something different with different environments? For instance in my chemistry readings they find some form of carbon bonded with titanium in space, I cant remember but its CxTix with x being greater then 10 from memory(C14Ti16?), so is that reaction mechanism then purely environmental. Such as in labs they do many reactions, but natural based mechanisms more so being something pathological or forensic really. I mean from what I just read of your plasma physics explanation does "transmutation" exist in such?

[Rocket Man]

when its cooled, the elements generally react again to form more stable configurations.

however, from what i've learned, this rule is often broken. oxygen gas is diatomic and quite stable. a common product of oxygen plasma is ozone which is far less inert. basically, there's enough energy in the collisions of cooling plasma to make practically any random compound.

plasma is just the nuclei and the electrons. the nuclei still have the same number of protons so the element won't change.

i'd assume that if you made it hotter still you could start breaking the nuclei into it's component parts, beyond that is quark gluon plasma where the protons and such fall apart.

as for reality, there is no system aside from a particle accelerator that can shatter a nucleus