| LCD screens are uniquely modern in style, and the | | | | where temperature responsiveness is a boon; but this |
| liquid crystals that make them work have allowed | | | | same property can unfortunately make LCD screens |
| humanity to create slimmer, more portable technology | | | | unreliable in extreme climates. |
| than we've ever had access to before. From your | | | | In an LCD screen, electric currents work at a |
| wrist watch to your laptop, a lot of the on the go | | | | microscopic level to control the amount of light that |
| electronics that we tote from place to place are only | | | | passes through the liquid crystal molecules that make |
| possible because of their thin, light LCD display screens. | | | | up the moving layer of the screen, which is |
| Liquid crystal display (LCD) technology still has some | | | | sandwiched between clear glass panels. The currents |
| stumbling blocks in its path that can make it unreliable | | | | can force the naturally twisted molecules to unwind or |
| at times, but on the whole the invention of the LCD | | | | coil tighter, thereby changing the amount of light that |
| screen has allowed great leaps forward in global | | | | can pass from the bulb behind the glass to the eye of |
| technological progress. | | | | the viewer. It may help you understand this process by |
| Although liquid crystals are not really liquid, their | | | | imagining that light filters through an LCD screen the |
| molecules behave more like a liquid than they do like a | | | | same way that sunlight filters through the leaves of a |
| solid, which earns them their name. The crystals in an | | | | tree. Now, imagine that the tree is being blown in the |
| LCD exist in a kind of a unique middle ground between | | | | wind, and you will see that the amount and placement |
| solid form and liquid form, which gives them the | | | | of the light that comes through the leaves changes. |
| movement and flexibility of a liquid; but can also let | | | | This is very similar to the dynamic that powers an |
| them remain in place, like a solid. Heat can quickly melt | | | | LCD screen, except that the sun is a small light bulb, |
| a solid to liquid, allowing it to move, whereas cool will | | | | the leaves are molecules of liquid crystal, and the wind |
| make the liquid solidify almost instantly. The sensitivity | | | | is made up of electric currents sent by the computer |
| of liquid crystals to temperature can be an advantage, | | | | and designed to create a specific light pattern that |
| or a disadvantage. It allows for the highly successful | | | | your eye will interpret as words or images. |
| use of liquid crystals in devices like thermometers, | | | | |