Question
In a liquid crystal display, what is the "liquid" part of the display? Which materials make a LCD?
Thank you very much.
Answer
Hi Alberto,
In a liquid crystal display, the "liquid" part is actually made of.....liquid crystals! Confusing, isn't it? There actually isn't a "liquid" part and a "crystal" part, but rather it's a substance that is something between a liquid and a solid.
First, I went to Google at www.google.com and typed in these words:
"liquid crystal" composition
I put the words liquid and crystal in quotation marks because I wanted them to be searched as a single phrase. Here are some resources that can help explain what exactly liquid crystals are:
Liquid Crystals
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/lcd1.htm
This resource describes what liquid cystals are (a substance that hovers between a liquid and a solid), and how they function. If you click on the NEXT button at the bottom of the page, you'll advance to the next several pages in the resource, where you can find out how to build your own LCD panel.
What Are Liquid Crystals?
http://liqcryst.chemie.uni-hamburg.de/lc_lc.php
This resource is more complex, but provides diagrams of the molecular structure of liquid crystalline phases, as well as defines what a liquid crystal is.
What Are Liquid Crystals Made Of?
http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae303.cfm
This resource describes how liquid crystal was first discovered in experiments using cholesteryl benzoate (no longer used in liquid crystal displays). Various polymers are typically used today in making liquid crystal.
I hope this helps. If you would like more information, a librarian at your school or at your local public library should be able to help you.
Thanks for asking your question!
Joann
cholesteryl benzoate, liquid crystal, LCD
http://vrd.askvrd.org/services/answerschema.xml
