Researchers have imprinted the surface of pralines with a pattern that splits incident light into the spectral colours. This makes the chocolate shimmer in beautiful rainbow hues - without the addition of any chemical substances. (Photograph: ETH Zurich / Giulia Marthaler)
Researchers have imprinted the surface of pralines with a pattern that splits incident light into the spectral colours. This makes the chocolate shimmer in beautiful rainbow hues - without the addition of any chemical substances. (Photograph: ETH Zurich / Giulia Marthaler) - Colours can be created in surprisingly different ways. And in addition to being pleasing to the eye, colour can also serve a useful purpose. -Asking why chocolate is brown is like asking why the sky is blue,- says Ralph Spolenak, Professor of Nanometallurgy in the Department of Materials at ETH Zurich. In both cases, particles scatter the light in such a way that only a certain part of it reaches our eyes: particles of cocoa powder make chocolate appear brown, while air molecules make the sky look blue. Particles are also responsible for a colour's intensity: the higher the cocoa content, the more the cocoa particles will influence how the light scatters, and the darker the chocolate will appear.
TO READ THIS ARTICLE, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
And extend your reading, free of charge and with no commitment.
