成核（Nucleation），也称形核，是相变初始时的“孕育阶段”。天空中的云、雾、雨、燃烧生成的烟，冰箱中冰的结晶，汽水、啤酒的冒出的泡等的形成，均为成核现象。

成核现象需要成核位置才可发生。汽化时，液相分子聚集于固相物质上面，分子不断碰撞使得能量聚集，进而形成“汽化中心”；结晶时，若使局部的溶质浓度升高而导致晶体碰撞次数增加，则结晶的晶形构造加快，从而形成“结晶中心”。晶核的成核有两种形式：初级成核（包括初级均相成核和初级非均相成核）及二次成核。在高于饱和度的情况下，溶液自发形成晶核的过程，称作初级均相成核；若晶核是在溶液外来物的诱导下生成，则称其为初级非均相成核；晶核如在含有溶质晶体的溶液中生成，则称为二次成核。

Nucleation is the first step in the formation of either a new thermodynamic phase or a new structure via self-assembly or self-organization. Nucleation is typically defined to be the process that determines how long an observer has to wait before the new phase or self-organized structure appears. Nucleation is often found to be very sensitive to impurities in the system. Because of this, it is often important to distinguish between heterogeneous nucleation and homogeneous nucleation. Heterogeneous nucleation occurs at nucleation sites on surfaces in the system. Homogeneous nucleation occurs away from a surface.