ShmoopTube

00:00

[ musical flourish ]

00:03

And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by melted cheese.

00:07

Need we say any more? Yeah.

00:09

All right, well, melting is the process through which... what happens?

00:13

And here are our potential answers.

00:15

[ mumbles ]

00:18

All right, well, we're talking about phase transitions here:

00:21

when matters changes from one form to another,

00:23

usually due to an increase or decrease in heat.

00:27

Let's say we take our favorite drink,

00:29

pour it into a glass,

00:30

and add ice. Well, gently give it a stir,

00:33

and, ah... Cool and refreshing.

00:36

But then we have to take the dog for a walk, so we leave the drink and come back in an hour.

00:39

When we get back, well, we now have a gross

00:42

water-y drink. That's because the ice, which had been solid,

00:45

melted into water, therefore diluting down our drink.

00:49

So the best answer choice here is option C.

00:52

Melting is the process through which a solid becomes a liquid.

00:55

And just so we cover all the bases,

00:57

when a liquid becomes a gas, that process is called

01:00

evaporation. Think of boiling water turning into steam.

01:03

When a solid becomes a gas, that's called sublimation.

01:07

That's what happens when dry ice turns into fog.

01:10

Like, it goes from a solid to a gas without that water stage in between.

01:13

And when a gas becomes a liquid, that's called condensation,

01:17

like the water that forms on the outside of that once-cold glass.

01:21

And when we take chips, cheese, beans, and meat,

01:24

that's called nachos.

01:25

Don't mind if we do.

01:27

[ whistle ] [ splat ]

Full Transcript