October 1, 2013

Physicists Cool Solids to Get Liquids

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By SOMRITA BANERJEE

Everyone knows that if you cool water, you get its solid, crystalline form: ice. When Prof. Itai Cohen, physics, and other researchers at the Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics took the same concept down to the nanoparticle level, however, they got surprisingly different results.

Cohen found that crystals of micron-sized particles, once formed, actually melt back into a liquid state when they are cooled further. This is contrary to the notion that solid substances melt when heated, not cooled.

BLAIR SULLIVAN / Sun Staff PhotographerCooling crystals | Prof. Itai Cohen discovered that when small crystals are cooled under the right conditions, they melt back into a liquid instead of staying a solid. This is contrary to the notion that solid substances melt when heated, not cooled.