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The endpoint of a gas-liquid phase coexistence curve, where the distinct liquid and gas states merge. For a smooth fluid equation of state, the critical isotherm has $p_v=p_{vv}=0$ at this point; this thermodynamic meaning differs from a stationary critical point of an arbitrary function.

For a simple system of fixed composition, the first law of thermodynamics andgiveThusEquality of mixed derivatives gives the Gibbs free-energy Maxwell relation

The heat capacity at constant volume and heat capacity at constant pressure areRegarding $S$ as a function of $T,V$ and differentiating along a constant-pressure curve givesThe Maxwell relation from the Helmholtz free energy isTherefore the difference between constant-pressure and constant-volume heat capacities is

Along the liquid-gas phase coexistence curve, the molar Gibbs free energies agree. Differentiating $G_{\mathrm{l}}=G_{\mathrm{g}}$ along the curve givesHence the Clausius-Clapeyron relation iswhere $L=T(S_{\mathrm{g}}-S_{\mathrm{l}})$ is the molar latent heat.

If $V_{\mathrm{g}}\gg V_{\mathrm{l}}$ and the gas is ideal, then $V_{\mathrm{g}}=RT/P$, soFor constant $L$, integration yieldswhere $P_0$ is constant over the range in which the approximations apply.

The latent heat for converting liquid to gas at coexistence iswith all quantities taken per mole or per particle consistently. Along the phase coexistence curve, the two Gibbs free energy values agree:Sincedifferentiating the equality along the curve givesTherefore the Clausius-Clapeyron relation isAt the critical point the liquid and gas become the same phase, so their entropy discontinuity disappears and

A smooth scalar Landau free energy can end a two-phase phase coexistence curve by merging two minima and their intervening maximum. At a generic stable endpoint, its first three derivatives vanish and its fourth derivative is positive. A field shift and two mixed control parameters reduce the local form to a quartic Landau free energy; the order-parameter jump then vanishes and the magnetic susceptibility diverges. This conclusion assumes there is no competing third phase and that the endpoint lies inside the control-parameter domain. It is not a general theorem about every first-order line: a sextic potential with fixed negative quartic coefficient has a symmetry-related ordered coexistence line that ends at a triple point with a finite jump.