LCDs are rapidly becoming a part of our daily lives, but have you ever considered what exactly they are? The liquid crystal of an LCD is a material in an intermediate state between solid and liquid. Sepia and soapsuds are familiar examples resembling such materials. An LCD is a device that sandwiches liquid crystals between two sheets of material.

Liquid crystal was discovered in 1888 by Austrian botanist Friedrich Reinitzer (1857-1927). While he was observing cholesteryl benzoate, Reinitzer noticed that it went through two stages. At 14 degrees Celsius, it went from a solid to a cloudy fluid (liquid crystal), and at 179 degrees Celsius it became a clear liquid. It was later learned that such state changes were due to the change in the arrangement of molecules within substances. A liquid consists of molecules that flow and are in a disorganized state. When a liquid becomes a solid, the molecules lose their fluidity and fall into an orderly arrangement. In liquid crystal state, molecules are arranged with moderate but not complete regularity. LCDs employ this liquid crystal property.