If you’ve never played with Oobleck, or tried to make it before…it’s definitely something that you need to do!
Oobleck is what is called a Non-Newtonian fluid. This means that it does not follow Newton’s Law of Viscosity, or the idea that a liquid has a constant flow unless a temperature change occurs.
In short, the more pressure you place on the Oobleck, the harder is becomes (like a solid). The less pressure you apply, the softer it becomes (like a liquid). If you punch the Oobleck it feels like you’re hitting the ground but if you gently press your hand into it, it feels like a liquid. It’s sort of mind blowing…like how can it be liquid and solid at the same time? The science lies in the size of the cornstarch particles. They are so small that they can’t really bind together and end up trapping water molecules between them creating “solid” parts as pressure is applied.
Anyway, on to the experiment. Oobleck has 2 ingredients cornstarch and water. You can add food coloring if you’d like to make it bright and more appealing to your kids.
Oobleck
materials
- cornstarch
- water
- large bowl
- spoon
- food coloring (optional)
Step 1
Grab your mixing bowl and place 1 cup of water into the bowl. If you plan on using food coloring add it to this step so that the color is evenly mixed into the Oobleck.
Step 2
Add 1 cup of cornstarch to the water.
Step 3
Mix the cornstarch into the water using the spoon. If you’ve done it correctly this will quickly become hard to mix. If that is the case, go ahead and get your hands in there to finish the mixing process.
Notes
- If you mixed the ingredients together but your mixture feels too watery, add more cornstarch to the mixture. A small amount at a time (1/4 cup) so that you don’t add too much.
- If you added to much cornstarch you can thin it out by adding more water. Again, add the water slowly so that you don’t make it too watery.
- If you’ve mixed the ingredients together and it’s too watery but you don’t have any more corn starch, (this happened to me) you can add tapioca flour or arrowroot powder if you happen to have those on hand.
This experiment is so much fun and it kept my kids busy for quite a while. I hope you’ll try it out and let your inner kid have some fun!
