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Q:
What is crystal lattice formation and how does it work? I have heard that reverse sublimation and sublimation are the same thing. Is this true?
- Chloe
A:
"Crystal lattice formation" sounds like a fancy description of
"freezing'. When atoms or molecules arrange in a regular spatially
repeating pattern (a 'crystal lattice') we say they've frozen.
Reverse sublimation means that a crystal grows by accumulating
atoms or molecules from a gas. Sublimation means that the atoms or
molecules evaporate directly from the solid to the gas. Obviously these
two processes are closely related, since one is the reverse of the
other. There are laws relating the rate of a process to the rate of its
reverse. However, it would be odd to call them the same process.
Mike W.
(published on 10/22/2007)
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