A lamellar two-phase microconstituent of ferrite and cementite, rather than a single thermodynamic phase. Shorter diffusion distances at greater undercooling generally produce finer lamellae before diffusional transformation is bypassed.
The proportions of ferrite and cementite within the two-phase pearlite microstructure. A lever rule on a weight-percent-carbon diagram gives mass fractions; converting those to volume fractions requires the phase densities. Proeutectoid phases outside pearlite must be treated separately.