heat of solidification

6.5

Amount of energy given off for each kilogram when a liquid becomes solid, for example when water freezes

noun

Specialized

: calor de solidificación

When water freezes to form ice, it releases its heat of solidification into the environment.

Examples

Engineers accounted for the heat of solidification when designing the metal casting process.
The heat of solidification must be considered in the thermal management of phase-changing materials.
The heat of solidification is crucial for understanding phase changes.
What is the heat of solidification for this alloy?
Engineers accounted for the heat of solidification when designing the metal casting process.
The heat of solidification must be considered in the thermal management of phase-changing materials.
When water freezes to form ice, it releases its heat of solidification into the environment.

Antonyms

heat of fusion

Specialized

6.3

The amount of heat needed to change one kilogram of solid to liquid at its melting point without changing temperature

Surface Forms

heat of solidification singular

heats of solidification plural

Morphology

heat + of + solidification

The phrase is a straightforward compositional noun phrase: 'heat' (energy) linked by 'of' to 'solidification' (the transition to a solid), so its meaning — the heat associated with the process of solidifying — follows directly from the parts. This is a standard scientific construction found across languages, so a learner who knows the constituent words can reliably infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Heat of solidification comes from the simple image that solidification means 'turning into a solid' and heat is the warmth a material 'gives off' during that change. So the phrase refers to the amount of heat given off when a substance 'freezes' into a solid.