by Emily Strobel

Created on: May 17, 2008

Mood rings are rings that show different colors and those colors correspond to the certain emotion you are feeling, or so people say. In the 1970s, they were all the rage. They were invented by Joshua Reynolds and these rings were a big fad during that time fitting the whole '70s feel of that decade.

The mood ring doesn't really contain a stone, but a hollow glass that holds thermo tropic liquid crystals. These crystals are used to respond to your body temperature and the colors twist. The twisting happens from the change in the crystals' molecular structure. So when the temperature of your body changes, the color changes because of the change in the crystals' molecular structure.

Mood rings don't really tell you what emotion you are feeling, but by showing a certain color, they can tell you what temperature your body is feeling. Temperature of the body can be a reaction to an emotion you are feeling. When you are happy, your body temperature can respond by being warm. When you are scared or nervous, your body temperature can become cold. The crystals' structures respond by changing into the color that correspond to the certain temperature. Certain emotions give a certain temperature, not just cold and hot. Specific temperatures are measured by these crystals, which is why there are more than two different colors that the rings show.

There are six main colors that a mood ring can convey: violet blue, blue, green, yellow/amber, brown/gray, and black. These colors are in order from temperatures hot to cold. Violet blue indicates that you are feeling happy or even romantic. Blue corresponds to the temperature you are feeling when you are calm or relaxed. Green means nothing is really going on; you're neutral. Yellow/amber means that you are very excited about something. Brown/gray tells you you are nervous or anxious. Black can mean that your ring doesn't work, or your body is very cold. If you put your ring somewhere very cold, like the fridge or the freezer, it can become black. The same thing will happen vice-versa: if you put your ring somewhere very hot, it will become a rich violet blue. This proves that the ring doesn't know what emotion you're feeling, but the temperature your body is at that time.

So, when you see a mood ring, you now know that it's a little science in that one little ring. It's not magic, it's simple chemistry made up into a little jewelry fad.

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