Related Link: Science on the Web

Fun Stuff at WonderLab: Birthday Parties | Programs | Volunteering | Camp | Exhibits



SCIENTIST AT HOME: OOBLECK!

Water has three physical states: solid, liquid and gas. Make a strange concoction called "oobleck" which has properties of solids and liquids.

You Will Need:
• Warm water                        
• Cornstarch                        
• A tablespoon
• A teaspoon
• A shallow dish

What You Do:
Pour two tablespoons of water into the dish. Add cornstarch a teaspoon at a time, and stir after each addition. Stop adding cornstarch when the mixture is not a liquid but also is not completely solid. Now, it's time to experiment! Try poking and slapping the oobleck. Try making it into a ball. Can you pour it? Can you bounce it? What happens when you try to do other things with it?

What’s Going On?
Solids can break, have a fixed shape, or can be molded. Liquids can flow, take the shape of their containers and allow solids to pass through them. Strangely, Oobleck is runny, like a liquid, but it acts like a solid when you put pressure on it. Thus, when you hold or pour oobleck, the water in it flows around the cornstarch molecules, and so the oobleck drips off your hand like a liquid. When you poke or slap oobleck, the water in it is pushed out from the spaces between the cornstarch molecules, causing the oobleck to temporarily become a solid. In the real world, this mimics how quicksand works!

Back to the top

© 2010 WonderLab Museum