High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Sublimation of an element or compound is a transition from the solid to gas phase with no intermediate liquid stage. Sublimation is an endothermic phase transition that occurs at temperatures and pressures below the triple point (see phase diagram). At normal pressures, most chemical compounds and elements possess three different states at different temperatures. In these cases the transition from the solid to the gaseous state requires an intermediate liquid state. However, for some elements (carbon and arsenic) or substances at some pressures the material may pass directly from a solid into the gaseous state. This can occur if the atmospheric pressure exerted on the substance is too low to stop the molecules from escaping from the solid state.