Question posted at the request of Youngest Son, who has been running around the last few days squirting everything and everyone in sight with the stuff, and chortling hysterically as he watches it disappear (he’s 9).
-Melin
It operates on the principle of acid/base chemistry. The reason the “ink” is blue to start with is because a particular molecule in the solution, thymophthalein, is blue in solutions that are basic. That same molecule is colorless under neutral conditions.
When disappearing ink is sprayed on your clothes, part of the solution evaporates
(the part is normally an alcohol of some sort), and instead of being basic the result is a neutral residue (left-over solid). With the evaporation, the thymophthalein is no longer experiencing basic conditions so it
changes colors and “disappears”.
Pretty handy for writing checks at the bank, eh?
I had something to say, but I got some of that stuff in my brain. Sorry.
Ray
LIFE: Those sparse nanoseconds between downloads of software upgrades.
Magic.
“What contemptible scoundrel has stolen the cork to my lunch?” --W.C. Fields
Anything that limits Nano to one line must be magic…
Sorry obvious cheap shot, couldn’t help it.
Your obligatory Simpsons quote (well, paraphrase):
There’s no mystery about disappearing ink - it simply disappears! Now let’s have no more curiosity about this bizarre coverup.