Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 20, 2026
Bacterial Transformation Using Heat Shock and Competent Cells
Published on: April 30, 2023
Structural Transformation and Melting in Gold Shock Compressed to 355 GPa
Surinder M Sharma1, Stefan J Turneaure1, J M Winey1
1Institute for Shock Physics, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, USA.
Abstract:
Gold is believed to retain its ambient crystal structure at very high pressures under static and shock compression, enabling its wide use as a pressure marker. Our in situ x-ray diffraction measurements on shock-compressed gold show that it transforms to the body-centered-cubic (bcc) phase, with an onset pressure between 150 and 176 GPa. A liquid-bcc coexistence was observed between 220 and 302 GPa and complete melting occurs by 355 GPa. Our observation of the lower coordination bcc structure in shocked gold is in marked contrast to theoretical predictions and the reported observation of the hexagonal-close-packed structure under static compression.
Related Concept Videos
11:01Bacterial Transformation: The Heat Shock Method
07:46Transformation of Plasmid DNA into E. coli Using the Heat Shock Method
05:12Melting Points
The melting point of a compound is the temperature at which the solid phase transitions into the liquid phase at a standard pressure of 1 atmosphere. The melting point of a compound is a physical property, like solubility, density, color, and electronegativity that can be used to identify a compound. Determining the exact temperature at which a compound begins to melt is a challenging task; because of this, the melting point of compounds is reported as a...
08:15Melting Points
02:27Melting Points
05:12Melting Point
One of the most important properties of a crystalline solid is its melting point. It can be used to determine the purity of a known compound and gives important information about the stability of the formed...