What type of heat causes a change in state of a material without a change in temperature?

Latent heat is the type of heat that causes a change in the state of a material, such as from solid to liquid or liquid to gas, without a corresponding change in temperature. This concept is crucial in understanding phase changes during heating or cooling processes. During these changes, energy is absorbed or released, which enables the transformation of matter from one state to another while maintaining a constant temperature. For example, when ice melts into water, heat is added, but the temperature of the ice-water mixture remains at 0 degrees Celsius until all ice has melted.

Sensible heat, on the other hand, refers to the heat exchanged that results in a temperature change of a substance without a change in state. Superheat involves the heating of a vapor beyond its saturation point, while thermal energy is a broader term that encompasses the total energy of molecular motion in a substance. These concepts are relevant when studying heat transfer, but they do not specifically define the process of phase changes that occur at a constant temperature, making latent heat the accurate choice in this context.