Why do the lines on paper fade (and eventually disappear) if left in sunlight?

) | asked June 4th, 2008 | 4 responses | “Great Question” (1

I had a piece of lined looseleaf paper taped to my bedroom window, and over the course of five months the lines disappeared. Why?

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Topics: science, paper, printing, light, ink

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Ultraviolet light (which sunlight has plenty of) can ‘bleach’ the paper by slowly breaking down various inks and pigments.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet_light#Degradation_of_polymers.2C_pigments_and_dyes

xyzzy (642

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also construction paper looses its color… i guess any paper

melly6708 (471

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The line faeries come and use them to build nests.

shockvalue (5399

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Given enough time the sun bleaches out a lot of things. Colored fabrics fade, too. Even my hair does to some extent. In the winter, when the sun is blocked by clouds, my hair is a dark, dark brown. In the summer, however, the sun bleaches parts of my brown hair to an auburn/copper color. People ask me every summer if I dyed my hair – every summer I say no and tell them it’s from the sun.

Allie (10937

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