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Daily Digest Archive for August 18, 2003
Q: (Initially posted on August 14, 2003) FROM
MENTEE ALEXIS K. IN VA
How does multicolor, glittery enamel paint function? For example,
in car
paint, the color of the car might look one sparkly color and
then from
another angle look like another color. Also in nail polish,
each angle
reflects a different color. I noticed that you can never see
more then one
color at a time. Why is that? Also is there a relationship between
multicolor, sparkly enamel pain and holograms because they too
look
different from different angles and you can never see more than
one thing at
the same time. What is the process for making holograms and
what is the
process for making enamel paint that all this color and image
diversity
occurs? Is this a visual trick that fools the mind, or is there
really
different stuff that the eye is perceiving or both (or something
else). I
can't figure it out by looking at the paint and holograms but
am fascinated
with this. My sister brought home a dead beetle the other day
and the
underbelly was exactly like a multicolor nail polish I have.
Looking at the
beetle from different angles did exactly the same thing that
my nail polish
did. Do you suppose that the idea for the paint came from nature
and is the
chemistry the same for the paint as it is for the beetle (or
similar)? This
is a lot but it is an interesting mystery to me and I could
use help
figuring it out. |
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August 18, 2003
A: FROM MENTOR .SALLY RAMSDELLIN
KY
Regarding your questions about paint which appears to change
color, there
are several technologies. The most common is to use flakes
of mica or
metal (such as aluminum) in the paint which act as prisms
and reflect light
differently to cause the effect. Another method controls the
density of the
paint which is like 1-2-3 Jello and separates on its own into
different
layers which reflect differently.
Holography is totally different. It is the projection of a
stereo image
onto a translucent medium, so you see the image in 3D based
on the
convergence within the medium.
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