Oozing Oobleck

Chemistry is all around us every day! In this activity, your child will think like a chemist; observing chemical reactions, creating hypotheses, and drawing conclusions about our chemical experiments. After all, chemistry happens anytime we mix two or more things together to get something new.

Let’s Begin!

Materials

• 1 cup of water

• 1 cup of cornstarch

• 3 drops of food coloring

Directions

1. Measure out 1 cup of cornstarch and dump it into a large bowl.

2. Add food coloring to one cup of water

3. Slowly add the colored water to the cornstarch.

4. Mix first with a spoon and then knead with your hands until fully incorporated.

Examining the Experiment: The Secret of Oobleck

Oobleck falls into super special category of materials called a non-Newtonian fluid. This means that unlike most materials in the world, it does not obey normal laws of physics! Oobleck falls into this category because it acts like a liquid when it oozes, and a solid when you squish it!

Things to Try

1. What is the effect of using warm vs cold water? Does one make a more solid oobleck and the other a more liquid oobleck?

2. What happens when you drop oobleck? Does it splat or bounce? Does the height at which you drop it change its performance?

3. For a special Halloween effect, try using tonic water instead of tap water. Tonic water contains a chemical that makes it fluorescent under a black light.