The conversion of a solid to a liquid by the application of heat and/or pressure.
Note:
For a
liquid crystal, melting occurs when the three-dimensional periodic structure of a solid collapses to give a liquid-crystal phase in which the molecules have orientational order, but not long range translational order.
Source:
PAC, 1994, 66, 577
(Definitions of terms relating to phase transitions of the solid state (IUPAC Recommendations 1994))
on page 585
Cite as:
IUPAC. Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book"). Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997). XML on-line corrected version: http://goldbook.iupac.org (2006-) created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN 0-9678550-9-8.
doi:10.1351/goldbook.
