FAQ: Colour Chemistry

Typical Questions

1. Why must the molecule be planar in order to be effective in photochromism? Does energy
required for excitation only depend on the conjugated systems and the planar geometry?

Planar geometry is one of the criteria in order to the molecules to switch from one form to
another as explained in the seminar. Conjugated systems in molecules can decrease the
energy required to excite the electron from lower energy level to higher energy level.

2. Why are planar and trans- the two important factors for more effective pi orbital overlap
which facilitates the electronic transition process?

Please visit the following site for detailed explanation.

Link: https://www2.chemistry.msu.edu/faculty/reusch/virttxtjml/photchem.htm (Links to an
external site.)

3. How do fireflies light up? What chemicals do they have in order to light up?

Please visit the link below for detailed explanation.

Link: http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/zoology/insects-
arachnids/question554.htm (Links to an external site.)

Animals

1. Does chameleon change its colour based on the principle of photochromism?

Please visit the link below for further information.

Link: http://www.livescience.com/50096-chameleons-color-change.html (Links to an

external site.) (Links to an external site.)

2. How do fireflies light up? What chemicals do they have in order to light up?

Please visit the link below for further information.

Link: http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/zoology/insects-
arachnids/question554.htm (Links to an external site.)

3. What is the approximate amount of energy of emission of fireflies?

Energy of wavelength between 510 nanometer and 670 nanometer.

Source: http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/zoology/insects-
arachnids/question554.htm (Links to an external site.)

4. Can we extract the fluorescent chemicals in fireflies?

 Yes we can. Please read
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/zoology/insects-
arachnids/question554.htm (Links to an external site.) before you continue to read the
following. Regarding the extraction method, please refer to the following link. Link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly_luciferin.

5. Is the fluorescence of fireflies a type of luminescence?

Yes, for this type of phenomenon which takes place in organisms, it is called
bioluminescence. Please visit the following link for detailed explanation.

Link: http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/zoology/all-about-
animals/bioluminescence.htm (Links to an external site.)

Applications of Colour Chemistry

1. What is the application of electronic transition in the area of medical field?

MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) utilizes the principle of electronic transition with
radiowave to image human body.

2. Except blood detection, what other applications are related to color chemistry in the field of
forensic science?

Body fluids

3. In some cases, using backlight (backlight torch with purple light) draws on some white putty
and the putty will glow in the dark. What is the explanation?

Please visit the link below to see if the article can inspire you to find out the answer.

Link: http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/science-
questions/question388.htm (Links to an external site.)

4. How's colour chemistry involved in DNA sequencing?

Fluorescence is widely used as detection technique in DNA sequencing. Please refer to the
following site for further information.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_sequencing (Links to an external site.)

5. How do glow sticks work?

Please visit the links below for your further understanding.

Link 1: http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/everyday-innovations/light-
stick.htm (Links to an external site.)

Link 2: http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/science-
questions/question388.htm (Links to an external site.)
 6. How do phosphors work?

Please visit the link below for the detailed explanation.

Link: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/tv6.htm (Links to an external site.)

Fluorescence

1. What is fluorescence? How does it work?

Please visit the link below for detailed explanation of fluorescence.

Link: http://home.howstuffworks.com/fluorescent-lamp.htm (Links to an external site.)

2. What are the limitations of fluorescence?

Not all molecules are fluorescent.

The requirements of a fluorescent molecule are as below.

1. Aromatic ring
2. Potential for extended conjugation
3. At least one electron donating group attached to the aromatic ring

3. What are the benefits of fluorescent techniques?

Benefits of fluorescent lighting

1. Cheaper than regular lighting
2. Longer lifetime than regular light bulbs
3. No heat is given off

Benefits of using fluoresence in chemical analysis

1. High sensitivity
2. Rapid testing
3. Easy to use

Orbitals and Flame Test

1. Why do different elements will produce different colors in the flame test?

Recall from the pre-seminar material, an atom has different energy levels. Therefore,
different elements will have different energy levels. When electrons are excited from ground
state to excited state by irradiation, for atoms with more energy levels, there are different
probabilities for the electrons to be promoted to different energy levels in an atom. Therefore,
different elements produce different colours in the flame test.

2. Do different their orbitals have different characteristics in the experiments?

Recall from the pre-seminar material, an atom has different energy levels. Therefore,
different elements will have different energy levels. Some physical properties, such as
magnetic property and optical property, depend on how the electrons fill the orbitals (energy
 levels), so different elements will have different characteristics in experiments, such as
experiments involving optical and magnetic properties.

3. How could we actually monitor the orbital energy level in order to tune the emission energy
of the luminescent compounds?

Photoelectron spectroscopy can be used to determine the orbital energy level experimentally.

4. Why is λmax higher when the molecular size is larger in chromophores?

λmax corresponds to the wavelength that is equivalent to the energy difference between the
ground state and the excited state but it does not depend on the size, so its value is not higher
when the molecular size is larger.

5. What are the factors related to the rate of absorption of light?

a. Intensity of light
b. The molar extinction coefficient of the molecule of interest

6. Why some substance will not turn back to the original colour under visible light? Should the
electron return its original orbital after a long time under visible light?

The electron does not necessarily decay to its original orbital after excitation, so the material
may not return its original colour.

Property of Light and Thermochromic Materials

1. Why is the chemical fluorescent under the UV light but not under the sun light?

Recall from the electromagnetic spectrum from the seminar PowerPoint, UV light is a region
of light of short wavelength but it is not limited to one specific wavelength. Sun light falls
into the category of UV light but UV light is not necessarily sun light. Therefore, the
wavelength of UV light used in the demonstration is different from that of sun light.
Consequently, the chemical is fluorescent under UV light but not sun light.

2. How to determine the color of a subject by its information from electronic transition?

There is a method called UV-Vis Spectroscopy which is widely used in dyes industry to
determine the colour of different dyes. In essence, UV light is used to irradiate the molecule
of interest, the maximum wavelength of the absorption of the molecule is recorded. From the
seminar, you know that the colour of absorption and the colour of emission are
complementary colour. Once you have the wavelength of absorption, then you can determine
the wavelength of emission, finally you can determine the wavelength of the colour that you
observe.

3. How does the energy absorbed by the electrons affect the length of the waves that will change
the colour of the chemical?

First of all, wave does not have length but it has wavelength. Secondly, wavelength of a wave
is characteristic. In your question, the wavelength of absorption is different from the
 wavelength of emission and the two wavelengths come from two different waves. The
wavelength of absorption depends on the energy gap between two energy levels. The
wavelength of emission depends on the energy of the electron at excited state and how it falls
back to ground state.

4. Other than light, which substances or energies can take place the same reaction as light? Or
can all light be used to do this reaction?

First of all, you have to understand that light has a wide range of energy from very high
energy (Gamma rays and X ray) to very low energy (radio wave). Light in different regions
in the electromagnetic spectrum corresponds to different ranges of energy; however, the
reaction in the demonstration is for UV light only. Therefore, not all forms of light can excite
the chemical in the demonstration.

5. As the level of the electronic emission change, the colour of the chemical change. There is
the region of the different wave of colour, how can the "稜鏡" separate the colour in the
"white colour". Then why cant our eye observe the other wave such as UV, IR?

Please visit the link below for the principle of prism.

Link: http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-
weather/atmospheric/question41.htm (Links to an external site.)

Since UV light and IR are not in the visible light region, and human eyes are adapted to light
in the visible light region, so we can't observe UV and IR.

6. If an object has a temperature with absolute zero, or the object is in the state of plasma, can
we observe the colour in both cases?

If an object is at a temperature near absolute zero, it may emit radio wave. Since radio wave
is not in the visible light region, we can't observe any colours.

If you refer plasma to be very hot gases, we can observe the colour of plasma. Please visit the
link below for different colours of different plasma.

Link: http://www.plasma.de/en/glossary/glossary-entry-486.html (Links to an external site.)

Chromophore

1. Is there any similar theory between chromophore regions and retina?

Chromophore is part of a molecule that absorbs light. In retina, there are also chromophores
which capture light. Retinal is a molecule which acts as chromophore which is bound to
proteins called opsins. The retinal-protein complex plays an important role in human vision.
For the detailed information of retinal, please visit the link below for further information.

Link: http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/vchemlib/mim/bristol/retinal/retinal_text.htm (Links to an

external site.)
 2. Suppose there are two molecules, A and B and suppose A has a larger chromophore than B.
Do they have different rates of absorption?

The rate of absorption of light does not depend on the size of the molecule but it depends on
the dipole moment of the molecule and the frequency of the incident light.

3. What is difference between chromophore and auxochrome? In the molecule, visible light can
be shown through the chromophore and then turn into an excited state. Is there need any
external influence to emitting a photon?

Chromophore is the part of the molecule which can absorb light. Auxochrome is the part of
the molecule which can modify the ability of chromophore to absorb light.

4. In the molecule, visible light can be shown through the chromophore and then turn into an
excited state. Is there need any external influence to emitting a photon?

Once the electron is promoted to the excited state, it will fall back to ground state
spontaneously without any help from external influence.

Luminescence

1. How does luminescence work?

Please visit the link below for detailed explanation.

Link: http://www.explainthatstuff.com/luminescence.html (Links to an external site.)

2. When electricity is passed via substance, many substances will release heat and light due to
the resistance of the substance but why does luminescence not release heat and light?

Luminescence is different from electrochromism and thermochromism. Luminescence is

about emission while electrochromism and thermochromism are more about absorption.

3. How is luminescence used in forensic science?

Detection of latent fingerprints, blood, and body fluids

4. What is the relationship between luminescence and thermometer?

There is a class of thermometer called luminescent molecular thermometer which tells us

about temperature information by emitting light of different wavelength. An example of
luminescent molecular thermometer is 9-methylanthracene.

Electrochromic Materials

1. What are the examples of electrochromic materials?

There are many different classes of electrochromic materials and there are many examples in
each class. Please visit the link below for the examples.
 Link: http://nathan.instras.com/MyDocsDB/doc-612.pdf (Links to an external site.)

2. What are the factors that affect the electrochromic properties of materials?

There are different factors which can affect different electrochromic properties of materials.
Generally speaking, temperature and electric potential can affect the electrochromic
properties of materials.

3. How can electrochromic materials modulate the transmission of light through glass?

Please visit the link to the article with explanation.

Link: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn6256-smart-glass-blocks-infrared-when-heat-is-
on.html (Links to an external site.)

4. How can electrochromic materials control the amount of light to absorb or reflect?

Please visit the link below for detailed explanation.

Link: http://www.explainthatstuff.com/electrochromic-windows.html (Links to an external

site.)

5. Electrochromic materials can absorb electromagnetic radiation. Can these materials combine
with the nanotechnology in order to generate more electric power?

The idea of electrochromism is that you can change the colour of a material by applying
electricity but it is not about generating electricity.

6. Are there any materials which are photochromic and electrochromic at the same time?

Hexagonal phase MoO3 nanobelt is both photochromic and electrochromic at the same time.

7. How can we make simple electrochromic materials for luminescence?

Actually, you can refer to small simple metal oxides as mentioned above.

Photochromic Materials

1. What are the other applications of photochromic materials except sunglasses?

Applications in ophthalmics, textile, novelty printing, optical memories and switches, and
biology

2. What are the examples of photochromic materials?

There are different classes of photochromic compounds. Please visit the link below for
detailed explanation.

Link: http://www.tcichemicals.com/eshop/en/us/category_index/00104/ (Links to an external

site.)
 3. Concerning the photochromism, what happens if we use X - rays/Gamma rays/Radio ways
instead?

The colourful appearance of an object is determined by the energy gap between the excited
state and the ground state. In order for the absorption to occur, the energy of the light must
match with the energy gap of the molecules. If not, there is nothing to occur. X-Rays and
Gamma rays have very short wavelengths so their energy does not match with that of visible
light or UV, so nothing will happen. Radio wave has long wavelength, so nothing will happen
too.

4. How do we predict the colour change of photochromic compounds in photochromism?

Calculation can be done to predict the properties of compounds but the result does not
necessarily match with the experimental result since it is a prediction.

5. Photochromic T-shirt，是否放了一些洗不走的 chemicals，所以無論穿多少次也有同樣

的效果? Luminescence compounds 是否永遠也發光? 當他們不發光，是什麼顏色? 是原
有的顏色嗎? 錢上的水印，是不是 photochrmism compounds 在上? 為甚麼不同的
compounds 要不同的 energy 去使它們變色?

When you wash clothes in the washing machine, you pour washing powder into the washing
machine. Washing powder is essentially calcium or sodium hypochlorite which is a strong
oxidizing agent. When you wash the photochromic T-shirt, the effect of photochromism may
stay the same. However, if you wash the same T-shirt many times, the photochromic effect
may be different from before since the photochromic materials on the T-shirt may get
oxidized.

Molecular Geometry and Bonding

1. Why must the molecule be planar in order to be effective in photochromism? Does energy
required for excitation only depend on the conjugated systems and the planar geometry?

Planar geometry is one of the criteria in order to the molecules to switch from one form to
another as explained in the seminar. Conjugated systems in molecules can decrease the
energy required to excite the electron from lower energy level to higher energy level.

2. Why are planar and trans- the two important factors for more effective pi orbital overlap
which facilitates the electronic transition process?

Please visit the following site for detailed explanation.

Link: https://www2.chemistry.msu.edu/faculty/reusch/virttxtjml/photchem.htm (Links to an

external site.)

3. Why does σ bond have the lowest energy comparing with pi bond or lone pair electrons?

σ bond must form before the formation of pi bond between two atoms. Therefore, σ bond is
lower in energy.
Miscellaneous

1. What is the material in UV glasses?

The molecule in "Application in Sunglasses" on slide #26 is 1,3,3-trimethyl-9'-hydroxy-3'H-

spiro[indoline-2,3'-naphtho[2,1-b][1,4]oxazine]naphthoxazine.

2. What is "photochromic"? Are there any adverse effects of photochromic compounds?

Photochromism refers to the reversible chemical reactions of a chemical compound due to the
absorption electromagnetic radiation.

Whether there is an adverse effect depends on how the photochromic material is used.

3. Can you explain more about π bond and σ* bond?

Recall from the pre-seminar material that carbon has s and p orbitals. In the following I will
only talk about p orbitals (please refer to Figure 1 for the shape of a p orbital). For example,
when a carbon-carbon double forms, a p orbital from one carbon will laterally overlap with
another p orbital of another carbon atom. Since we have 2 p orbitals involved in bonding,
there should also be 2 molecular orbitals formed in the product. One of the molecular orbitals
that has lower energy is called π bond (in-phase overlap, see Figure 2). Another molecule
orbital will be at a higher energy state due to out-of-phase lateral overlap of 2 p orbitals (see
Figure 3) which is called π* bond.

Figure 1 - π orbital

Figure 2 - In-phase overlap of two p orbitals (Image courtesy: Wikipedia)

 Figure 3 - Out-of-phase overlap of two p orbitals

4. How can UV light change the structure of molecules from non-planar to planar?

Sometimes UV light can be used to excite the molecule which leads a structural change but it
does not necessarily lead to a structural change. Even irradiation of UV light to a molecule
which leads to a structural change, the resulting geometry is not necessarily planar.

5. There are two substances which are different in colour. When we mix it together, what is the
resulting colour of the mixture? There are two substances which absorptive capacities are
different. They are mixed together and placed under ultraviolet lamp for a few times.If there
is not enough energy for one of the substance's colour change. What will happen?

Let's assume the two substances will not react with each other during mixing. Each substance
has its own colour. When you mix the two coloured non-reacting substances, the result is like
you mix colours in your art classes. However, if the two substances will react with each other
upon mixing, a new compound may form afterwards. Then, depending on the electronic
structure of the product, it may be coloured or colourless.

If the substances are exposed to UV light for a few times and there is no colour change, there
is no colour change in conclusion. Whether there is a colour change depends on the
difference between the two energy levels as mentioned in the pre-seminar video. If the
frequency of light matches with the difference between two energy levels, there is an
electronic transition and there may be or may not be a colour change since the form of energy
released can be heat but not necessarily light.

If the frequency of light does not match with the difference between two energy levels, there
is no electronic transition and there will be no colour change.

6. What are the applications of UV light in real life?

An example of application of UV light is in forensic science. If you recall the slide in the
seminar which shows a technique of blood detection, a chemical called luminol is sprayed on
possible blood stain. Then UV light is used to excite the electrons in the mixture to lead to the
stain to glow if the stain contains iron ion. Please feel free to watch the demonstration online
at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIrVgF4CZTc (Links to an external site.).

7. What would happen if the tin foil were replaced with black colour paper in the
demonstration?
 The foil is actually made of aluminum. Aluminum foil is able to block off visible light and
UV light. I don't think black paper can block off UV light. If black paper were used instead of
aluminum foil, the solution might have changed colour prior exposing it to UV light.

8. In the experiment, we understand that we used tinfoil to separate from visible light and
changed its colour. What would happen if we did not use the tin foil to separate the visible
light?

Visible light coming outside from the box may be able to excite the electron from the ground
state to excited state (higher energy level) which may lead to a colour change of the solution
prior exposing the solution to UV light.

9. What is the meaning of orbital? Is it related to structural properties?

An orbital is a geometrical probabilistic region where you may find an electron. In th pre-
seminar material, s and p orbitals are introduced. Actually there are also d and f orbitals and
they play different roles in bonding in compounds.

2 orbitals overlap to form a covalent bond. Bonds in a compound determine the structure of
the compound.

10. Will there be a difference in colour between a colored solution absorbing gamma rays and
absorbing UV radiation?

First of all, from the pre-seminar material, you see the formula of E = hμ. What it means is
that there is only an electronic transition ONLY if the difference between two energy levels
matches with the frequency of light.

For an arbitrary molecule, the difference between two energy levels may only match with the
frequency of UV light but not Gamma ray. If that is the case, electron transition in the
molecule will only take place when the molecule is irradiated by UV light. Another case is
that the difference between two energy levels in the molecule may only match with the
frequency of Gamma ray. If that is the case, electron transition in the molecule will only take
place when the molecule is irradiated by Gamma ray.

There may be compounds which respond to both UV light and gamma ray radiation.

11. Chlorophyll A, a biological pigment with a green color, has a molecular formula of
C55H72O5N4Mg. Which atom in that molecule is responsible for this green color? And also
for bilirubin, a yellow biological pigment, has a molecular formula of C33H36N4O6. Which
atom in that molecule is responsible for this yellow color?

For chlorophyll, if you take a look at its structure, you see that there are a lot of alternate
double and single bonds and those conjugated systems (alternate double bonds and single
bonds) are responsible for the green appearance of the molecule. The magnesium ion also
plays an important role in the appearance of the green colour of the molecule.

Similarly, for bilirubin, there are a lot of conjugated systems in the molecule and all of them
are responsible for the yellow appearance of the molecule.
12. Is OLED made up of different materials that can emit different colors when UV?

OLED consists of different layers. For the structure of an OLED unit, please visit the
following link for the explanation.

Link: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/oled1.htm (Links to an external site.)

13. Can you briefly explain the working principle of OLED?

Please visit the following link for the explanation of the working principle of OLED.

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/oled2.htm (Links to an external site.)

14. When did UV light break the bonds in glass? Why could the glass change to colourless?

The energy of UV light is not strong enough to break the bonds in the glass used in the
seminar. For colourless materials, they do not absorb nor emit light energy.

15. What is the difference between hybridization and unhybridization?

Hybridization involves mixing of different orbitals while unhybridization does not involve
mixing orbitals.

16. Why do black objects absorb the light without reflecting light?

Recall from the pre-seminar video, when light is exposed to a molecule, the electron jumps
from ground state to excited state (higher energy level) and it will drop down back to ground
state eventually and emits energy. For black objects, light is absorbed and energy is released
too. However, black objects do not emit light in form of energy but they emit heat instead of
light.

17. What is the chemical used in detecting blood in forensic science?

The reagent that is used to detect blood in crime scenes is called luminol. Its structure can be
found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminol (Links to an external site.). The result of
luminol is presumptive only which means that we are not 100% sure about whether the
blood-like substance is blood or not. Positive result means that it may be blood but it cannot
be confirmed to be blood. In ordere to confirm the identity of the blood-like substance,
biological tests will be carried out subsequently and those biological tests are confirmative
tests.

For the working principle of it, please visit here:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/luminol.htm (Links to an external site.). You are welcome
to come back to ask quest ions if you do not understand the materials.

For a demonstration of luminol, please watch the video at here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbEHvRrfqrc (Links to an external site.). It is very cool!
18. Why do wavelength and the intensity of light affect the colour of light?

Different colours correspond to different ranges of wavelength.

19. Why does the dye in the demonstration change colour after exposure to UV light?

Please visit the link below for the explanation.

Link: http://stainsfile.info/StainsFile/dyes/dyecolor.htm (Links to an external site.)

li>

20. Why is light emitted when electron drops to a lower energy level?

The emission process is meant to release energy. Depending on the size of the energy gap
between two energy levels, the energy released takes different forms. In the seminar, the
energy released takes the form of light which leads to emission of light when electrons drops
to a lower energy level.

21. Why are some materials colourless?

Colourless materials do not absorb nor do they reflect light.

22. Why can black objects absorb all colours of light without reflecting any other colours of
light?

Recall from the pre-seminar video, when light is exposed to a molecule, the electron jumps
from ground state to excited state (higher energy level) and it will drop down back to ground
state eventually and emits energy. For black objects, light is absorbed and energy is released
too. However, black objects do not emit light in form of energy but they emit heat instead of
light.

23. What is the relationship between the wavelength and the energy?

Recall from the pre-seminar video, Energy = (Planck's constant)*(speed of

light)/(wavelength). Therefore, energy is inversely proportional to wavelength. That's why
the longer the wavelength, the lower the energy is, or vice versa.

24. Why can the sky reflect different colours in different time?

Please watch the seminar "Water Uptake of Atmospheric Particles - From Millikan Oil
Droplet Experiment to a Blue Sky" and then read the special topic, "Blue Sky and Red
Sunset".

25. What is background knowledge required to understand OLED?

In order to understand OLED, knowledge of advanced physics and advanced chemistry is

required.

26. Why do some coloured substances change after cooling?

 Recall the content of the pre-seminar material (video), if you apply energy to a molecule, the
electron will jump from ground state to excited state (higher energy level), at this stage,
absorption takes place. However, the electron will not be stable at higher energy level for a
long period of time; it will drop down to the ground state and releases energy at the same
time. Light is a form of energy and when it emits, colour of substance will change.

Besides, in thermochromic materials, the compounds are designed to be very sensitive to

temperature. Once the electron drops down from the excited state to the ground state, the
colour will change obviously.

27. What is reaction for detecting the blood in forensic science?

Please read the special topic, "Blood Test" in the "Metals in Biological Systems" seminar.

28. Except solid and liquid, will gas like hydrogen and oxygen change colors in high
temperature? If they will change colours, what colours will they change to?

If a gas is heated to a very high temperature to a point at which the gas becomes ionized,
plasma forms.

For a list of plasma colour of different gases, please visit the link below.

Link: http://www.plasma.de/en/glossary/glossary-entry-486.html (Links to an external site.)

29. What kind of material cannot be used to interact with UV light?

For materials that will interact with UV, its energy gap must be equal to the light at UV
region. Therefore, if the energy gap in a molecule does not match with the energy of light at
UV region, electronic transition will not take place. However, if the UV energy is greater
than the bond energy, the molecule will decompose.

30. On the last page of the seminar slide, there is a TV. How the chemicals in the TV produce
different colours of light?

First of all, you may know that different colours are composed of three colours - red, green
and blue. Therefore, each colour producing unit contains more than 1 compound in order to
produce one of the red, green and blue colours. There are many colour-producing units in the
OLED TV to produce red, green and blue colours and combine them to form different
colours.

For your further information, please visit http://www.explainthatstuff.com/how-oleds-and-

leps-work.html (Links to an external site.).

31. After an element absorbs energy, the structure of the element will be destroyed. An example
is that sodium metal becomes sodium ions during flame test. However, why will glass not be
destroyed by the sun light?

For glass, it is transparent because it does not absorb any sun light nor does it emit any light.
Sun light just passes through glass without absorption and emission, so the electronic
 structure of glass remains the same. For sodium, electronic transition takes place as
evidenced in flame test.

32. Are all coloured substances made by colour chemistry?

The principles of electronic structure of molecules are used to explain colour of different
things that we can observe. Colour chemistry is used to explain the phenomenon of observed
colour but it is not a procedure to make different molecules.

33. How can colour chemistry improve our life?

In the last few slides of the seminar PowerPoint file, we can see that there are varieties of
applications of colour chemistry, from photochromic sunglasses, optical data storage, to
thermochromic cups. These applications all signify the improvement of our life.

Let me use photochromic sunglasses as an example. In the past, before the invention of
photochromic sunglasses, we might need to take out two different glasses (ordinary glasses
and sunglasses) when we went out on a hot and sunny day. With the invention of
photochromic sunglasses, we only need to bring the photochromic sunglasses with us only
since photochromic sunglasses can do the jobs of ordinary glasses and sunglasses, so we have
more convenience in our life.

34. What are the key points in this seminar?

Please refer to the post-seminar material in the supplementary materials folder of Colour
Chemistry.

35. How is color related to temperature in some thermosensing objects?

There are different types of thermochromic materials: inorganic, organic and liquid crystals.
The temperature effect on them may be different. Let me use thermochromic liquid crystals
as an example, the wavelength (colour)-temperature response curve is shown on slide #7
(Figure 1) in the Handbook of Thermochromic Liquid Crystal Technology published by the
commercial company Hallcrest. Please find the link to the handbook below.

Link of handbook: http://www.thermometersite.com/tlc_handbook.pdf (Links to an external

site.) (Since the size of the pdf file is about 7 Mb, it may take some time to load the file).

36. How can UV glasses work and what are the resources of making UV glasses?

Please visit the link below for explanation of the working principles of UV sunglasses.

Link: http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/everyday-
innovations/sunglass.htm (Links to an external site.)

37. Is colour chemistry a required course in university for chemistry students?

The concepts (absorption, emission, electronic transition, and orbitals) present in the seminar
are covered in a theory called molecular orbital theory which is part of the compulsory
 physical chemistry courses in university if you major in chemistry. Conjugation, co-planarity,
and planarity are covered in organic chemistry at university level.

38. Who invents Colour Chemistry? What are the applications of the principles of Colour
Chemistry?

The concepts, ideas and theories covered in the Colour Chemistry seminar are introduced by
different scientists so the whole field is a collaboration effort.

When you see coloured objects, you can use the principles covered in Colour Chemistry to
explain colour observed, so it is very hard to say which area colour chemistry is mostly
applied in. Examples of applications of colour chemistry include sunglasses, blood-detecting
agents, optical data storage, and sensors.

39. What are the industries that make use of the principles of Colour Chemistry?

Common examples: dye industry, sunglasses industry

40. What can you do with the principles of Colour Chemistry?

Examples of applications of colour chemistry include sunglasses, blood-detecting agents,

optical data storage, and sensors.

41. How does Colour Chemistry play a role in society? What products in real life are related to
the applications of Colour Chemistry?

There is a type of job called colourist. There are a lot of colourists in the textile industry who
are responsible for colours of clothes.

Common products include dyes and pigments.

42. Can we apply colour chemistry in other subjects?

Colour Chemistry draws the theories from physics and chemistry, so it is a cross-disciplinary
subject.

43. What is the main use of photochromic compounds?

Photochromic sunglasses are one of the important applications of photochromism. The

fundamental theory of photochromism was present in the Colour Chemistry seminar.

44. Is the fluorescent colour different from other colours?

The fluorescence process is slightly different from the emission process. For the details of
fluorescence process, please visit the following link for further explanation.

Link: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/mod5.html (Links to an external site.) (near

the bottom of the page)