ABSTRACT
This book is on the crystallization of melts. In this chapter, various aspects of the liquid state and the crystalline state of matter are discussed. The majority of melts to be crystallized are organic while some melts, e.g., NH4NO3, are inorganic. The crystallization of molten metals and alloys will not be dealt with. All matter is made up of atoms. The forces that hold atoms together are discussed in Sec. 1.2. Ionic, metallic, and covalent bonds are the three primary interatomic forces.
