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C
olors usually come from natural sources
like plants, shells, or insects. Yellows can
come from a kind of clay. Reds are found
in plants like beets and tomato. Leaves from
spinach, peppermint or lilac will produce green.
Blues are hard to find in nature. But in 2009,
an experiment in a lab resulted in the astonishing
discovery of a striking new blue—the first
discovery of its kind in over 200 years!
Dr. Mas Subramanian, a chemistry professor at
Oregon State University, was working with
graduate students to develop
materials for electronic
devices.
y y
Dr. Mas Subramanian, a chemistry professor at
Oregon State University, was working with
graduate students to develop
materials for electronic
devices.
A combination of the chemical components
Yttrium, Indium and Manganese were fed
into a furnace. They produced a brilliant
blue material. Dr. Subramanian at
first thought it was a mistake. But
when the experiment was repeated,
it achieved the same result.
The color was so vivid that he recognized
the potential for a color pigment. He
called it YInMn (pronounced yin-min).
It is non-toxic, durable and stable. Those are
three things that are important in paints
used on walls and furniture.
The name comes from the chemical
symbols of the three elements the
pigment contains Yttrium (Y),
Indium (In) and Manganese (Mn).
n 2017, Crayola retired their yellow crayon called
Dandelion and added the new shade of blue. Crayola
asked the public for names for the new blue shade of
crayon. Bluetiful was chosen from over 90,000 entries.
At the launch, Crayola exhibited a huge crayon
made out of the color. It is now on display and
weighs 1,352 pounds and is 15.6 feet long. It even
works as a crayon! It broke the Guinness World
Record for the World's Largest Crayon and can be
seen at the Crayola Experience, Orlando, Florida.
What's next? Dr. Subramanian is
now experimenting to find a new red!
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The last blue pigment was discovered in 1802.
Use the code to find out what that blue is called.
S E C R E T C O D E
A scientist discovers a
new color…
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