MOOD RINGS

Mood rings were invented by Joshua Reynolds in 1970 and are still around today. The stone of the ring changes colour, supposedly according to the mood or emotional state of the person wearing it but everyone knows its to do with temperature of surrounding air. The stone of a mood ring is made from hollow glass containing thermotropic liquid crystals. Modern mood jewelry is usually made from a flat strip of liquid crystals with a protective coating. The crystals respond to changes in temperature by twisting. The twisting changes their molecular structure, which alters the wavelengths of light that are absorbed or reflected. Wavelengths of light is another way of saying colour, so when the temperature of the liquid crystals changes, so does their colour.

Mood rings can't tell your emotional state with any degree of accuracy, but the crystals were calibrated with have a pleasing blue or green colour at the average person's normal resting peripheral temperature of 82°F (28°C). As peripheral body temperature increases, which it does in response to passion and happiness, the crystals twist to reflect blue. When you are excited or stressed, blood flow is directed away from the skin and more toward the internal organs, cooling the fingers, causing the crystals to twist the other direction, to reflect more yellow. In cold weather, or if the ring was damaged, the stone would be dark gray or black and unresponsive.

The top of the list is the warmest temperature, at violet, moving to the coolest temperature, at black.

violet blue - happy, romantic

blue - calm, relaxed

green - average, not much going on with you

yellow/amber - tense, excited

brown/gray - nervous, anxious

black - cold temperature or damaged ring