How Does a Photon Become a Film Photo?
The chemistry behind film photography is pretty fascinating. How do film cameras help us turn light into a physical image? Thumbnail Credit: Don O'Brien ...
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[♪ INTRO] For most of the time we’ve had photography, you couldn’t just snap a picture on your phone. You had to use specially made film. And taking the perfect photograph meant you had to master some chemistry, from capturing light, to developing an image that you can see. When photons enter a film camera, these packets of light energy fly through the lens and hit a piece of plastic covered in what’s called an emulsion. And for you chemists out there, that might be kind of a misleading name. In chemistry, an emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that normally can’t be combined, like the oils and vinegar in a tasty vinaigrette. The stuff coating a film strip is technically closer to a suspension, which has tiny solid bits floating around in a fluid. Typically, it’s silve...
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[♪ INTRO] For most of the time we’ve had photography, you couldn’t just snap a picture on your phone. You had to use specially made film. And taking the perfect photograph meant you had to master some chemistry, from capturing light, to developing an image that you can see. When photons enter a film camera, these packets of light energy fly through the lens and hit a piece of plastic covered in what’s called an emulsion. And for you chemists out there, that might be kind of a misleading name. In chemistry, an emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that normally can’t be combined, like the oils and vinegar in a tasty vinaigrette. The stuff coating a film strip is technically closer to a suspension, which has tiny solid bits floating around in a fluid. Typically, it’s silve...
