- 2068 Magh · 2 marks
Paint and its constituents
Short answer
Paint is a pigment dispersion in a drying oil. Key constituents: pigment provides colour and opacity; vehicle (drying oil) forms the film; thinner adjusts viscosity for application.
What is paint? Write three important constituents of paint.
Paint is a mechanical dispersion of pigment in a drying oil with thinner and other additives, used to protect and decorate surfaces.
Three important constituents
- Pigment: a fine coloured powder that gives colour, opacity and strength, and protects against UV light. Examples: TiO₂ (white), ZnO, Fe₂O₃ (red), Cr₂O₃ (green), carbon black.
- Vehicle (drying oil): the liquid medium, like linseed oil, that holds the pigment and forms a hard, tough, adherent film by oxidation and polymerisation on drying.
- Thinner (solvent): turpentine or mineral spirit, which reduces viscosity for easy application and evaporates afterwards.
(Other additives: driers such as Pb/Mn/Co linoleates, extenders like barytes and plasticisers.)
✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)
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