ScienceAugust 18, 2026

eutectic

yoo-TEK-tik

Definition

Referring to the lowest temperature at which a specific mixture of substances, such as salt and water, can remain in a liquid state before freezing solid.

Etymology

Derived from the Greek word 'eutektos', meaning 'easily melted', it entered English in the late 19th century through the study of metallurgy and chemistry.

In the news

The article uses the term to describe the minimum temperature threshold at which calcium perchlorate and water can form a liquid brine on the freezing surface of Mars.

NASA’s Viking 2 lander photographed frost forming on Mars in the 1970s. Nearly half a century later, a University of Arkansas researcher fed its old weather measurements into a model and found something Viking’s scientists never knew: for roughly 30 Martia

Read the full article ↗

Space Daily

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