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Grade 12Physical Chemistry

Zinc oxide is colourless in room temperature but on heating turns yeallo.why

Profile image of Abigail Treasa
8 Years agoGrade 12
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1 Answer

Profile image of Simran Vinaik
ApprovedApproved Tutor Answer8 Years ago
When you heatZnO then Oxygen leaves asO2 leaving behindZn2+ and 2 electrons.Zn2+ and the 2 electrons move to the interstitial sites of the crystal . This provides excess electrons in the crystal lattice ofZnO. When light falls on these crystals then these electrons absorb a part of the light in the visible region and hence impart a yellow colour to theZnO