Monday, July 28, 2008

Creeping Oobleck - Sound Waves Experiment

I remember playing with corn starch and water when I was a kid. I never knew it had a name. Apparently the science / children's experiment community has appropriated the term Oobleck from Dr Seuss. In the UK they call it goop or gloop, both of which I think are shoe-mending adhesives on this side of the pond. At any rate, oobleck is what's known as a non-Newtonian fluid; it readily demonstrates the dilatant effect, which is a fancy way of saying it thickens (becomes more viscous) when it is agitated. Say, by sound waves. Man, I really love my sound wave experiments, don't I? To create your very own oobleck, the best ratio of corn starch to water is between 2:1 and 3:2.



Linked in the video: the tune is Club Sickness by Slantize, the MySpace Music logo of course will take you to his page.

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