Solid or Liquid?
Things Needed:-
A big bowl
-
1 cup corn starch
-
½ cup water
-
Spoon
-
An old newspaper
Directions:
-
Spread the newspaper on the table before placing the bowl on it.
-
Add 1 cup of corn starch into the bowl.
-
Add ½ cup of water into the bowl containing the starch.
-
Using the spoon, stir the mixture together.
-
Hit the surface of the mixture using your fist. You will observe that the mixture behaves almost like a solid and the mixture doesn’t splash all over.
-
Also, try holding onto the mixture without applying any pressure on it, you will observe that the mixture flows like liquid, on your palm.
Â
How does it work?
The mixture of corn starch and water yields something called the ‘Non-Newtonian’ fluid, as they do not have the properties of either solids or liquids. The mixture exhibits the properties of a solid when the pressure applied increases and, when the pressure applied reduces, it behaves like a liquid. The mixture behaves so because of ‘viscosity’. Viscosity is the physical property of fluids, which indicates how fast/slow it will flow. Viscosity in simple terms is the thickness or thinness of a liquid.
Â
