Multimedia Gallery
Dongseoks Peppermints
Dongseoks Peppermints
It is exciting to be exposed to the wonders of the microscopic world. This is particularly true if you are studying how polymers solidify and form sphere-like arrangements of crystals or spherulites. Like ice on a window in the winter, the growth of the crystals begins at many centers at the same time. The crystals grow out from the centers in all directions and meet each other to fill up space. With polarized light in a microscope, the arrangement of the polymer molecules in the spherulites can be determined by the colors that appear in the different parts of the spherulite.
More about this Image
This imagery provides a unique avenue by which an interest and appreciation of scientific research can be nurtured. It is precisely this concept that underpins VISUAL (Ventures in Science Using Art Laboratory), a recently launched educational outreach program of the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center on Polymers (MRSEC) (supported by the National Science Foundation's Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers Program) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. VISUAL is based on the premise that the visual arts can serve as an effective means to stimulate, educate and promote materials science research to the general public and to students of all ages.
Credit: VISUAL, Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
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