Monday, 06 May 2024

Liquid Crystals: An unique state of matter

Under V4 program of CeNS, Dr. Yelamaggad presented a talk entitled “Liquid Crystals: An Unique Stater of Matter.” In this lecture, the speaker discussed the important properties of well-known states of matter such as solid, liquid, gas and plasma. Later, they were informed about the existence of another two states of matter namely, Bose-Einstein Condensate and Liquid Crystals. The fundamental aspects of liquid crystals were especially discussed in detail. Their occurrence in human beings in the form of DNA, RNA, tissues, cell membranes etc. was discussed in length. The birefringence and fluidity of liquid crystals were demonstrated using cross polarizers.  Students were quite amazed to know about the important characteristics of liquid crystals.  The active participation of children was distinctly perceptible as they raised many questions and requested the speaker to clarify their doubts. Moreover, they were involved in demonstrating the important properties of liquid crystals.