Ridge View was a much brighter place last Tuesday as the combined chemistry classes wore their hand-made tie-dye shirts. The chemistry students traditionally do this lab as part of their organic chemistry/petroleum unit. Dyes are large organic molecules (meaning they are carbon based), and the shirts are 100% cotton, an organic polymer called cellulose. The actual dyeing, which was great fun for the students and teachers, represents a chemical reaction between the dye and the shirt. The dyes are, therefore, covalently bonded to the shirt, and will be strongly colorfast. This activity will culminate with a lab report detailing the process that the students used.
