Experiments

Create Oobleck Slime

by Anderson

Questions to Explore:

What makes something a solid or a liquid?

Can a substance be BOTH a solid and a liquid?

 

How to make Oobleck slime at home:

Materials needed:
  • cornstarch
  • water
  • bowl
  • food coloring
  • measuring cup

Procedure:
  1. Pour 1 cup cornstarch into a bowl
  2. Add 1/2 cup of water and stir to combine

  3. Add food coloring (if desired) and stir

  4.  Play with the mixture.

How to make slime at home:

Materials needed:
  • Elmer’s glue
  • baking soda
  • bowl
  • food coloring
  • measuring cup and spoon
  • contact solution
  • baby oil (optional)
Procedure:
  1. Pour ½ cup of Elmer’s glue into a bowl
  2.  Add ½ teaspoon baking soda
  3. Add a drop or 2 of food coloring
  4.  Add 1 – 2 tablespoons contact solution
  5. Stir until it no longer sticks to the bowl (option to add a few drops of baby oil)

Follow up Questions:

  • What makes a liquid a liquid?
  • Can something be both a liquid AND a solid?
  • What is a non-Newtonian fluid?

Watch the following video for step by step instructions to create slime:

 

Explanation:

Slime is a non-Newtonian fluid, meaning it is neither a liquid nor a solid. It can be picked up like a solid and bounced like a ball because of its elasticity.  However, it also changes shape to fill whatever container it’s placed in and oozes like a liquid.  When you pull slime slowly, it flows freely.  When you pull it quickly, it breaks apart.  This is because you are breaking apart the chemical bond that keeps it together.

WHAT MAKES SLIME STRETCHY?

Polymers! A polymer is made up of very large chains of molecules.  The PVA glue used in slime has long chains of polyvinyl acetate molecules that slide past one another easily, keeping the glue flowing freely.  When mixed with a Slime activator, such as Borax, saline solution, or liquid starch, the glue molecules change position.  This process, called cross-linking causes a chemical reaction between the glue and the borate ions, creating our new substance, slime!

 

Before being mixed with the activator, the polyvinyl acetate molecules in the glue flowed freely.  Now, they have become tangled with the borate ions in the activator and created a new substance, slime!

 

Still Curious?

Learn more with these resources:

Youtube Video: Oobleck and Non-Newtonian Fluids: Crash Course Kids #46.1

http://www.scienceisforkids.com/non-newtonian-fluid-its-super-stuff-science-kids/

Resources:

Step by step instruction images: https://www.instructables.com/id/Oobleck/

Featured image: https://babbledabbledo.com/how-to-make-oobleck/

Slime materials image: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/stem-activities/how-to-make-slime