Surface

Name:
Surface
Detailed information:
In physical chemistry the area of contact between two different phases or states of matter, e.g., finely divided solid particles and air or other gas (solid-gas); liquids and air (liquid-gas); insoluble particles and liquid (solid-liquid). Surfaces are the sites of the physicochemical activity between the phases that is responsible for such phenomena as adsorption, reactivity, and catalysis. The depth of a surface is of molecular order of magnitude. The term interface is approximately synonymous with surface, but it also includes dispersions involving only one phase of matter, i.e., solid-solid or liquid-liquid.See Interface; Surface Area; Surface Chemistry.