Chrome yellow

For the novel by Aldous Huxley, see Crome Yellow.

American school bus, painted in traditional Chrome yellow^[1]

Chrome Yellow is a natural yellow pigment made of lead(II) chromate (PbCrO₄). It was first extracted from the mineral crocoite by the French chemist Louis Vauquelin in 1809. Because the pigment tends to oxidize and darken on exposure to air over time, and it contains lead, a toxic, heavy metal, it has been largely replaced by another pigment, Cadmium Yellow (mixed with enough Cadmium Orange to produce a color equivalent to chrome yellow).^[2] Chrome yellow is commonly produced by mixing solutions of lead nitrate and potassium chromate and filtering off the lead chromate precipitate.

Chrome yellow

The first recorded use of chrome yellow as a color name in English was in 1818.^[3]

Chrome yellow in human culture

Aviation

• The Piper J-3 Cub aircraft had chrome yellow as its standard overall color, usually called "Cub Yellow" or "Lock Haven Yellow" in aviation circles, from the Piper factory that existed in Lock Haven, PA where it was made in the 1930s and during World War II.

Literature

• Crome Yellow is the first novel by British author Aldous Huxley; it was published in 1921. In the book, Huxley satirizes the fads and fashions of the time.

See also

• List of colors
• School bus yellow

References

1. ^ Worobec, Mary Devine; Hogue, Cheryl (1992). Toxic Substances Controls Guide: Federal Regulation of Chemicals in the Environment. BNA Books. p. 13. ISBN 9780871797520. http://books.google.com/?id=CjWQ6_7AnI4C&pg=PA13. 
2. ^ Gettens, Rutherford John; Stout, George Leslie (1966). "Chrome yellow". Painting Materials: A Short Encyclopaedia. Courier Dover Publications. pp. 106. ISBN 9780486215976. http://books.google.com/?id=bdQVgKWl3f4C&pg=PA106. 
3. ^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 192; Color Sample of Chrome Yellow: Page 43 Plate 10 Color Sample L4