Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing02:39

Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing

11.6K
Heating a crystalline solid increases the average energy of its atoms, molecules, or ions, and the solid gets hotter. At some point, the added energy becomes large enough to partially overcome the forces holding the molecules or ions of the solid in their fixed positions, and the solid begins the process of transitioning to the liquid state or melting. At this point, the temperature of the solid stops rising, despite the continual input of heat, and it remains constant until all of the solid is...
11.6K
Quantifying Heat02:46

Quantifying Heat

54.9K
Thermal Energy Microscopically, thermal energy is the kinetic energy associated with the random motion of atoms and molecules. Temperature is a quantitative measure of “hot” or “cold”, which depends on the amount of thermal energy. When the atoms and molecules in an object are moving or vibrating quickly, they have a higher average kinetic energy (KE) (or higher thermal energy), and the object is perceived as “hot”, or it is described as being at a higher...
54.9K
Heating and Cooling Curves02:44

Heating and Cooling Curves

23.0K
When a substance—isolated from its environment—is subjected to heat changes, corresponding changes in temperature and phase of the substance is observed; this is graphically represented by heating and cooling curves.
For instance, the addition of heat raises the temperature of a solid; the amount of heat absorbed depends on the heat capacity of the solid (q = mcsolidΔT). According to thermochemistry, the relation between the amount of heat absorbed or released by a substance,...
23.0K
Heat Flow and Specific Heat01:12

Heat Flow and Specific Heat

5.7K
Heat is a type of energy transfer that is caused by a temperature difference, and it can change the temperature of an object. Since heat is a form of energy, its SI unit is the joule (J). Another common unit of energy often used for heat is the calorie (cal), which is defined as the energy needed to change the temperature of 1 g of water by 1 °C, specifically between 14.5 °C and 15.5 °C, since the energy needed shows a slight temperature dependence. Another commonly used unit is...
5.7K
Phase Changes01:19

Phase Changes

3.7K
Phase transitions play an important theoretical and practical role in the study of heat flow. In melting or fusion, a solid turns into a liquid; the opposite process is freezing. In evaporation, a liquid turns into a gas; the opposite process is condensation.
A substance melts or freezes at a temperature called its melting point and boils or condenses at its boiling point. These temperatures depend on pressure. High pressure favors the denser form of the substance, so typically, high pressure...
3.7K
Specific Heat01:16

Specific Heat

57.6K
The specific heat capacity of a substance refers to the energy required to increase the temperature of one gram of that substance by one degree Celcius. Specific heat capacity is often represented in calories (cal), grams (g), and degrees Celsius (oC), but can also be expressed in joules (J), kilograms (kg), and Kelvin (K), among other units.
For example, increasing the temperature of one gram of water by 1°C requires one calorie of heat energy and can be written as 1 cal/g-°C, or...
57.6K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Tracer diffusion in granular suspensions: Testing the Enskog kinetic theory with direct-simulation Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics.

Physical review. E·2026
Same author

Tetratic phase in 2D crystals of squares.

Soft matter·2025
Same author

Experimental identification of topological defects in 2D colloidal glass.

Nature communications·2025
Same author

Nonlinear microrheology with time-dependent forces: Application to recoils in viscoelastic fluids.

Physical review. E·2024
Same author

Stealthy and hyperuniform isotropic photonic band gap structure in 3D.

PNAS nexus·2024
Same author

Insight into the Viscoelasticity of Self-Assembling Smectic Liquid Crystals of Colloidal Rods from Active Microrheology Simulations.

Journal of chemical theory and computation·2023
Same journal

Erratum: Bacterial Turbulence at Compressible Fluid Interfaces [Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 138301 (2026)].

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Unveiling Light-Quark Yukawa Flavor Structure via Dihadron Fragmentation at Lepton Colliders.

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Adaptable Route to Fast Coherent State Transport via Bang-Bang-Bang Protocols.

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Topological Transition and Emergence of Elasticity of Dislocation in Skyrmion Lattice: Beyond Kittel's Magnetic-Polar Analogy.

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Pound-Drever-Hall Method for Superconducting-Qubit Readout.

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Coupling a ^{73}Ge Nuclear Spin to an Electrostatically Defined Quantum Dot in Silicon.

Physical review letters·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 23, 2026

Characterization of Thermal Transport in One-dimensional Solid Materials
05:20

Characterization of Thermal Transport in One-dimensional Solid Materials

Published on: January 26, 2014

22.0K

Specific heat in two-dimensional melting.

Sven Deutschländer1, Antonio M Puertas2, Georg Maret1

  • 1Physics Department, University of Konstanz, 78464 Konstanz, Germany.

Physical Review Letters
|October 4, 2014
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This study reveals that the specific heat peak in 2D superparamagnetic particle melting is linked to defect density, not symmetry breaking. This finding supports continuous phase transitions without latent heat.

More Related Videos

Analyzing Melts and Fluids from Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Simulations with the UMD Package
06:37

Analyzing Melts and Fluids from Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Simulations with the UMD Package

Published on: September 17, 2021

5.9K
Experimental Methodology for Estimation of Local Heat Fluxes and Burning Rates in Steady Laminar Boundary Layer Diffusion Flames
10:29

Experimental Methodology for Estimation of Local Heat Fluxes and Burning Rates in Steady Laminar Boundary Layer Diffusion Flames

Published on: June 1, 2016

12.0K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Apr 23, 2026

Characterization of Thermal Transport in One-dimensional Solid Materials
05:20

Characterization of Thermal Transport in One-dimensional Solid Materials

Published on: January 26, 2014

22.0K
Analyzing Melts and Fluids from Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Simulations with the UMD Package
06:37

Analyzing Melts and Fluids from Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Simulations with the UMD Package

Published on: September 17, 2021

5.9K
Experimental Methodology for Estimation of Local Heat Fluxes and Burning Rates in Steady Laminar Boundary Layer Diffusion Flames
10:29

Experimental Methodology for Estimation of Local Heat Fluxes and Burning Rates in Steady Laminar Boundary Layer Diffusion Flames

Published on: June 1, 2016

12.0K

Area of Science:

  • Physics
  • Materials Science
  • Colloidal Systems

Background:

  • Melting transitions in two-dimensional systems are complex, involving distinct symmetry breaking points.
  • The Kosterlitz-Thouless-Halperin-Nelson-Young (KTHNY) model describes a unique melting pathway with an intermediate hexatic phase.
  • Understanding these transitions is crucial for materials science and condensed matter physics.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the specific heat (cN) behavior around melting transitions in 2D superparamagnetic colloidal particles.
  • To compare experimental findings with Monte Carlo simulations for detailed analysis.
  • To elucidate the relationship between specific heat peaks, symmetry breaking, and defect density.

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing micrometer-sized superparamagnetic particles confined in two dimensions.
  • Calculating specific heat from fluctuations in particle positions and internal energy.
  • Performing extensive Monte Carlo simulations for comparison.
  • Analyzing order parameter correlation functions to identify symmetry breaking.

Main Results:

  • Observed a single specific heat peak within the hexatic phase, showing excellent agreement between experiments and simulations.
  • Confirmed the KTHNY melting scenario with distinct temperatures for translational and orientational symmetry breaking.
  • Found the specific heat peak correlates with total defect density, particularly isolated dislocations, rather than symmetry breaking points.
  • Detected no latent heat, supporting the continuous nature of both melting transitions.

Conclusions:

  • The specific heat peak in this 2D colloidal system is driven by defect density, not symmetry breaking.
  • Experimental and simulation results strongly support the KTHNY melting theory for colloidal systems.
  • The absence of latent heat confirms the continuous phase transitions observed in this system.