Ostwald's rule of stages
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Revision as of 18:35, 23 September 2009 by Chakraborty (Talk | contribs) (New page: ==Description== In the traditional model of crystallization, atoms or molecules nucleate into clusters, and the clusters rapidly grow after reaching a critical radius. However, the system...)
Description
In the traditional model of crystallization, atoms or molecules nucleate into clusters, and the clusters rapidly grow after reaching a critical radius. However, the system does not necessarily transform directly into the most energetically favorable state. That is, there might be intermediate stable states as a system transforms into its ultimate crystalline state. This was predicted by Ostwald in 1897, and is thus called Ostwald's rule of stages.
