what are nematics? are they organic? how are they used in LCD? can they be found in Plasma screen as well ? thx ^^
2006-11-25 10:40:34 · 3 answers · asked by Monrupig 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
Nematics are so-called liquid crystals. They are organic, which means that they are made up of carbon and hydrogen, together with other elements, covalently bonded, but they are not inorganic salts. Liquid crystal means that they are highly ordered (stacked up, aligned) in the liquid state, although they are not solid crystals. There are other types of liquid crystals, like cholesteric.
Each molecule of a nematic liquid crystal molecule has an asymmetric carbon atom. This means that the molecule can exist in a "left-handed" and "right-handed" form. The ones used in liquid crystal displays (LCD's) are of one "handedness" only. The handedness means that the nematic rotates the plane of plane-polarized light.
Think Polaroid sunglasses. Only light that vibrates "up-and-down" or "right-and-left" gets through.
Light from outside passes through the display and gets reflected from an aluminum or silver foil at the back. The viewer sees "silvery white." Electric signals injected into the display relax or rigidify the nematic molecules, altering their rotation of light. If the light cannot reflect back through the display to the viewer, then the viewer sees "black numbers and letters" on a "silvery white" background.
Plasma displays function differently.
2006-11-25 10:55:54 · answer #1 · answered by steve_geo1 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This link below is rather good as a full explanation. I cannot do it justice enough.
2006-11-25 11:11:56 · answer #2 · answered by WavyD 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Robot newts?
2006-11-25 11:29:49 · answer #3 · answered by Ghostrider 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋