= Nucleation
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Nucleation forms a sufficiently large region of a new phase within an old <metastable> phase. In <classical nucleation theory>, positive surface energy competes with bulk free-energy gain, producing a <critical nucleus> and a barrier to conversion. The <Arrhenius nucleation time> depends exponentially on this barrier; boundaries and impurities can alter it. This explains how <metastability> and <hysteresis> can persist despite a different globally stable phase.
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