Adventures in Non-Newtonian Fluid Making
February 27th, 2008 by ToniA non-Newtonian fluid is “a liquid that does not abide by any of Sir Isaac Newton’s laws on how liquids behave. Quicksand, gelatin, and ketchup are all non-Newtonian fluids.” And though I’d very much like for you to think of me as a genius-mom who can spew all sorts of facts and resources out at a moment’s notice, I must confess that this particular bit of information came from Joey Green who also provided the following super-fun recipe for slime. (When your done here click on over for some slimy facts.)
Green Slime
What You Need
- 4-ounce bottle of Elmer’s Glue-All
- Two large glass bowls
- Water
- Green food coloring
- Large spoon
- Measuring cup
- 1 teaspoon 20 Mule Team Borax
- Ziploc Storage Bag or airtight container
What to Do
Empty the bottle of Elmer’s Glue-All into the first bowl. Fill the empty glue bottle with water and then pour it into the bowl of glue. Add ten drops of food coloring and stir well.In the second bowl, mix the borax with 1 cup water. Stir until the powder dissolves.
Slowly pour the colored glue into the bowl containing the borax solution, stirring as you do so. Remove the thick glob that forms, and knead the glob with your hands until it feels smooth and dry. Discard the excess water remaining in the bowl. Store the Green Slime in the Ziploc bag or airtight container.
What Happens
The resulting soft, pliable, rubbery glob snaps if pulled quickly, stretches if pulled slowly, and slowly oozes to the floor if placed over the edge of a table.Why It Works
The polyvinylacetate molecules in the glue act like invisible bicycle chains drifting around the water. The borax molecules (sodium tetraborate) act like little padlocks, locking the chain links together wherever they touch the chain. The locks and chains form a interconnected “fishnet,” and the water molecules act like fish trapped in the net.
We didn’t have food coloring to make it green but even so the children had a blast and remained occupied for almost an hour. Pretty good toy if you ask me.
On a similar note, I came by Joey’s slime via a search for Borax uses of which there are many. If you don’t have box of this stuff in your house I highly suggest you get some. Oh and this link is great too … if you’d like to know where borax comes from.
You can also use liquid starch. This is a long standing favorite in our house, as well as when I was teaching special ed–excellent for dealing with kids with sensory disorders.
We don’t do the dye part due to allergies and for kids who can’t touch elmer’s we use thin plastic gloves.–We also use gloves for playdoe due to allergies.
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Ah, liquid starch. I knew we made this with something else when I was a child but I couldn’t remember what. Thanks for the reminder. ~ Toni
My daughter made some of this the other day, and it turned out so great. What a memorable science experiment! Now I’m off to see how to use the big box of Borax that I bought for the slime. I used some in my laundry the other day…let’s see what else it’s good for….
This sounds so cool! I’ll have to try it with Jules.