By Ayush Mehta
Did you know that water can boil and freeze at the same time?
As astonishing as this sounds, it is absolutely true and this phenomenon is known as the triple point, coined by an English professor named James Thompson in 1873. This term, the triple point, is defined as the point at which the three phases (solid, liquid and gas) of a substance coexist in thermodynamic equilibrium (no thermal or chemical changes occur spontaneously).
So how do these two different processes occur at the same moment? Scientific theories suggest that the high energy molecules leave the liquid as gas, lowering the temperature of the liquid left behind and causing it to freeze. Water can be seen at its triple point at a temperature of 0.01oC and a pressure of 611.5 Pa. This triple point is accurately measured by the NBS precision mercury manometer.
At different conditions, most substances portray characteristics of the triple point phenomenon, which helps scientists identify compounds and use it to solve chemical formulae and problems.
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