"Pasta World?" What? What does this photograph have to do with pasta? It looks like one of the satellites of Jupiter. Well, I'll tell you... We had pasta last night. After the pasta and water were poured into the strainer, the pot was put back on the stove to cool. I picked up the pot after dinner to wash it, and saw a flash of color. Color? What? So I carefully studied the bottom of the pot, and was astounded at the brilliant colors. These colors are "dichroic" - A dichroic material is one which causes visible light to be split up into distinct beams of different wavelengths (colors) which you see here. I think it has to do with microscopically different thicknesses of the left over starch. In any case, it looks like a phantasmagorical planet. In any case, I was thrilled to see a whole "world" in the bottom of a pot! Here is a photograph of the pot, in case you don't believe me.
4 comments:
your title gave it away, at least for me. thanks for digging up the scientific basis, and for another wonderful photograph.
Only you would see this in the bottom of a pot! How long did you take to research this? Amazing.
Joan
Clearly you don't do KP enough because this is a phenom all procrastinators of kitchen cleaning see. Leave soapy water in a pot, and you get this effect. (You should photograph a gasoline spill sometime!) By the way, "dichroic" is a word that's become very popular among jewelry makers who sell their pieces at craft shows. Dichroic glass is made by fusing glass pieces in an extremely hot overn and skilled artist can create fabulous, light-catching "jewels" that rival natural stones.
Oh and nice picture. I'll look at my soaking water much more carefully (and appreciate the lovely colors) every night!
Thanks for the nice comments. I first learned of the term "dichroic" back at RIT while studying photography. There are filters used for changing the color balance of light, using the dichroic process in some way.
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