Want to show support for your favorite team? What if you could change the color of your car to black and gold (or red and white) in seconds?
Scientists have developed a paramagnetic paint that can change color like a football fan changes a T-shirt. Itâ’s all part of the amazing world of materials thatâ’s covered in three-minute podcasts on â’Materials Radio,â’ a new service of ASM International, the materials information society.
â’Have a New Car Color Every Dayâ’ was written and produced by Andrea Dangelewicz of the Clemson University Materials Advantage Chapter. Hereâ’s how the quick-change paint works:
While you drive, pushing a button sends electric current through a special polymer paint containing paramagnetic nanoparticles. The current creates a magnetic field that affects the spacing of crystals within the particles, which changes their ability to reflect lightâ’¦and voila! A white car becomes Steelers blackâ’¦or Cardinals red.
Nearly two-dozen podcasts on â’Materials Around Usâ’ and â’The Science of Materialsâ’ are available on Materials Radio to bring the excitement of materials to middle school students, parents and teachers. Visit www.materialsradio.com for free downloads.
Materials Radio is an initiative of the K-12 Education Subcommittee of ASM Internationalâ’s Education Committee. â’The podcasts come from the most creative minds in our university membership,â’ said K-12 chair Jan Edwards. â’Each one was written and recorded by Materials Advantage students who want to share their love of materials with middle school students.â’
â’Itâ’s all about making materials science accessible and fun.â’
ASM International is Everything Material, the Ohio-based society serving the materials science and engineering community. With 36,000 members worldwide. ASM provides authoritative information and knowledge on materials and processes from the structural to the nanoscale. Visit www.asminternational.org for details.
Issues
You go into the store for a bit, you children waiting change the color and you take 2 hours to find where you parked.
Police report a green sadan going south bound on 495 . . . what to do?
Extra reading : Ten Most Outrageous Paint Jobs of 2009