I know it has something to do with chemistry and/or physics and I once knew but now can't remember. Please, please, please no dumb answers.
2006-11-27 10:56:48 · 12 answers · asked by Smo 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
pntbttrtoast: No, it's not a dumb answer. Lobsters are actually brownish coloured.
2006-11-27 11:14:31 · update #1
After multiple volunteers and a bit of research, I found the answer, and found it to be pretty simple. In the words of the Northeastern Fisheries Science Centre, "The red pigment is the most stable component of the colouring in a lobster shell. The greens and browns which darken the shell in a live lobster are destroyed by cooking." For a more complete answer I did some further digging and found that the red pigment common to all decapod (shrimp, prawn, crab, lobster) exoskeletons (shells) is letons (shells) is astaxanthin, a carotenoid (like b-carotene, the pigment that makes fruits red-orange) found in many organisms from bacteria to birds. Astaxanthin was first identified in the exoskeletons of crayfish, Astacidea, hence its name. In lobsters, as in many decapods, astaxanthin is not a free pigment, but is complexed with a protein called a -crustacyanin, which alters the resonance of astaxanthin such that the complex acts as a blue-green pigment. As mentioned above, astaxanthin is heat stable, while the a-crustacyanin protein is not, so boiling the lobster shell denatures the blue-green a-crustacyanin releasing the red-orange astaxanthin.
2006-11-27 11:02:22 · answer #1 · answered by fluxpattern® 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Honestly not trying to give you a dumb answer, but I thought lobsters were always red. You may know this but color just has to do with light and the absorbtion and reflection of light. Something red absorbs every color except red--it reflects red. Grass absorbs every color except green. Black absorbs all colors, white reflects all.
2006-11-27 19:04:14 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It the fact its been chucked in a pot of boiling water that makes it turn red.I mean,thats what colour I go when i get in a hot bath!
2006-11-27 19:09:09 · answer #3 · answered by o 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If I dropped you in a big tub of boiling water still alive, then I think you would turn red also.lol
2006-11-27 19:08:07 · answer #4 · answered by fuck off 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Drop you into boiling water, you'd go red too QED
2006-11-27 20:09:08 · answer #5 · answered by BadWolph 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wouldn't you turn red with anger if I shoved you in a pot of boiling water?
2006-11-27 19:06:15 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
was going to answer with something witty, then saw your no dumb answers so i wont bother soss
2006-11-27 19:00:01 · answer #7 · answered by TINYTI 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The pigment in their carapace.
2006-11-27 18:59:20 · answer #8 · answered by Deliriouz 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It got embarrassed when the sea weed.
2006-11-27 18:59:10 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
they go red when they are cooked
2006-11-27 19:24:23 · answer #10 · answered by cartman 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋