heat and melting

Q:Is melting an endothermic or exothermic reaction?

-cristina (age 13)
wayne,nj usa
A:Any melting you are familiar with (of ice, for example) soaks up heat. That's what's called endothermic.

In principle, it's possible to have an exothermic melting, in which heating a liquid freezes it. The only real-world example of which I'm aware is helium-3 at very low temperatures.

Mike W.

(published on 11/04/09)

 

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