What happens during the solidification of a metal?

During the solidification of a metal, the process involves the transformation of the metal from a liquid state to a solid state. This occurs as the temperature of the liquid metal decreases, reaching a point known as the freezing point or solidification temperature. When the liquid metal cools down sufficiently, the metal atoms begin to arrange themselves into a crystalline structure, leading to the formation of a solid.

This transformation is essential in metallurgy and manufacturing processes, as it affects the material properties, such as strength, ductility, and hardness. Understanding this process is crucial for engineers and manufacturers when working with metals, as controlling solidification can influence the quality of the final product.

The stabilization of temperature at the freezing point is a characteristic of the solidification process but does not encompass the entire transformation in detail, while equilibrium refers to a state where no net change occurs, which is not applicable to the actively changing state from liquid to solid.