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Related Concept Videos

The Phase Rule01:20

The Phase Rule

The phase rule describes the relationship between the variance (degrees of freedom), the number of components, and the number of phases in a system at equilibrium.Variance is a concept that denotes the number of independent intensive properties (properties are those that do not depend on the amount of material in the system), such as temperature, pressure, and composition, that can be altered without impacting the number of phases in equilibrium.In a single-component system, such as pure water,...
A Single-Component System01:24

A Single-Component System

In the field of chemistry, the terms "component" and "phase" hold significant importance. A component refers to a chemically distinct substance in a system that has specific properties. It is chemically homogeneous, meaning it has the same properties throughout. For example, in a mixture of salt and water, both salt and water are considered separate components because they have different chemical properties.On the other hand, a phase is a form of matter that has a consistent chemical...
Phase Diagrams of Ternary Systems01:28

Phase Diagrams of Ternary Systems

Consider a ternary system, which is composed of three components: water (W), ethanoic acid (E), and trichloromethane (T). Here, Ethanoic acid (E) is fully miscible with both water (W) and trichloromethane (T), meaning it can mix entirely with either of them. However, water and trichloromethane have partial miscibility, meaning they can only mix to a certain extent, beyond which two separate phases will form.The phase diagram of a ternary system is represented as an equilateral triangle, where...
Phase Transitions: Sublimation and Deposition02:33

Phase Transitions: Sublimation and Deposition

Some solids can transition directly into the gaseous state, bypassing the liquid state, via a process known as sublimation. At room temperature and standard pressure, a piece of dry ice (solid CO2) sublimes, appearing to gradually disappear without ever forming any liquid. Snow and ice sublimate at temperatures below the melting point of water, a slow process that may be accelerated by winds and the reduced atmospheric pressures at high altitudes. When solid iodine is warmed, the solid sublimes...
Two Components: Liquid–Liquid Systems01:27

Two Components: Liquid–Liquid Systems

A pressure-composition phase diagram explicitly describes the behavior of an ideal solution of two volatile liquids under varying pressures and compositions. A pressure-composition diagram has two main curves. The bubble point curve represents the plot of pressure versus liquid mole fraction. It indicates the pressure at which the first bubble of vapor forms from the liquid phase as the system pressure decreases.The dew point curve is the pressure versus vapor mole fraction. It indicates the...
Phase Diagram01:19

Phase Diagram

The phase of a given substance depends on the pressure and temperature. Thus, plots of pressure versus temperature showing the phase in each region provide considerable insights into the thermal properties of substances. Such plots are known as phase diagrams. For instance, in the phase diagram for water (Figure 1), the solid curve boundaries between the phases indicate phase transitions (i.e., temperatures and pressures at which the phases coexist).

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Phase Behavior of Charged Vesicles Under Symmetric and Asymmetric Solution Conditions Monitored with Fluorescence Microscopy
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Phase Behavior of Charged Vesicles Under Symmetric and Asymmetric Solution Conditions Monitored with Fluorescence Microscopy

Published on: October 24, 2017

Predicting phase behavior in multicomponent mixtures.

William M Jacobs1, Daan Frenkel

  • 1Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, United Kingdom.

The Journal of Chemical Physics
|July 19, 2013
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This study introduces a Monte Carlo method to simulate phase coexistence in complex mixtures. The research reveals how demixing affects homogeneous phase stability and solute volume fraction in multicomponent systems.

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Area of Science:

  • Physical Chemistry
  • Computational Chemistry
  • Statistical Mechanics

Background:

  • Complex mixtures with numerous components can exhibit hybrid phase transitions, involving both condensation and demixing.
  • Understanding these phase behaviors is crucial for modeling systems like the cytosol, which contains diverse molecules with specific and nonspecific interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop and apply a robust Monte Carlo simulation method for calculating phase coexistence in multicomponent mixtures.
  • To investigate the phase behavior of lattice models with strongly varying pair interactions, serving as a simplified cytosol model.
  • To determine the impact of demixing on the stability and solute volume fraction of homogeneous phases.

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing a robust Monte Carlo simulation approach to calculate phase coexistence.
  • Employing lattice models for multicomponent mixtures with varied pair interactions.
  • Mapping multicomponent mixtures to equivalent one-component systems to establish bounds on solute volume fraction.
  • Analyzing the minimum excess-free-energy path to predict phase composition differences.

Main Results:

  • The study establishes upper and lower bounds for the maximum solute volume fraction of stable homogeneous phases.
  • It was found that the direction of phase separation often does not align with dominant density fluctuations.
  • Demixing transitions were shown to reduce the maximum stable solute volume fraction.
  • The demixing contribution to phase separation was found to be self-averaging, depending on interaction distribution mean and variance.

Conclusions:

  • The developed Monte Carlo method accurately predicts phase coexistence in complex mixtures.
  • Demixing significantly influences the stability limits of homogeneous phases in multicomponent systems.
  • The findings provide insights into the behavior of simplified cytosol models and the fundamental principles of phase separation.