Chemistry Question #2896
Cesar, a 20 year old male from kalookan asks on September 1, 2005,
What are the components of a fever strip and the chemical principles behind it?
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The answer
Barry Shell
answered on October 7, 2005
The chemical inside the fever strip, or any other temperature sensitive flat colour-changing strip is a kind of cholesterol crystal compound that is a liquid crystal. The scientist who explained this phenomenon, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, won the 1991 Nobel Prize for his discovery.
This is explained very well at the following sites:
Paul Doherty's Scientific Explorations and Explanations website.
Nobel Prize website.
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