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Lesson #6: Non-newtonian fluids...and water...
Whats this? ANOTHER lesson? Score!
You will need:
White glue
Borax (a powered bleachy laundry detergent)
Water
Take 1 tablespoon of glue and 1 tablespoon of water and mix in a paper cup (or whatever). Mix thouroughly.
Take 1.5 tablespoon of borax and 4 tablespoons of water and mix in a SECOND paper cup (or whatever). Mix thouroughly.
Take 1 tablespoon of the borax mix and pour it into the glue cup.
This will make a small amount of what most science classes call "Goop".
You will note as you squeeze this stuff in your hand, it will feel rather solid. But if you release the pressure, it will suddenly ooze into a sort of liquid form and make a hell of a mess.
Watch out...this stuff WILL stain. Also...don't eat this. Thats bad.
This is what you call a Non-newtonian fluid. This means it not not a liquid OR solid, but has properties of both.
What is happening?
This all has to do with the molecules in the substance. Normally, they want to flow around each other because they don't have much of an attraction to each other...in fact, they tend to push each other apart (but this force is very weak). So they have a liquid form...
But when you add pressure, you start forcing the molecules closer and closer together into regular repeating forms, i.e. a solid form.
But once you let go, the repulsion of the molecules once again takes over and pushes them apart into the liquid form...
(Note:
You can also make a safer, although much more messy form of this phenomenon using just cornstarch and water. Fun stuff. Challenge you buddies to make the stuff splash. Fun yeah!)
So now whats this about water? Why is that in the title?
Water is a very strange material, with very unique properties for a fluid.
The molecules in the liquid form are actually CLOSER than those in the solid form. So if you squeeze water, it will stay the same state. But if you squeeze ice or snow, it will actually begin to melt (turn into the liquid, because you are forcing the molecules closer together).
Yeah, chainmail works that way. As pressure increases, the links come together to help stop the cut.
Unfortunately cornstarch and borax concoctions aren't very strong...
I bet we can make them stronger
i've made that stuff in school befor,and we added food coloring so it was diferent colors,it be fun ^-^
And I've made chainmail in school before. :wink: Not realy in different colors though...
SWEET!!!! I wanna make chainmail in school!
Mythbusters made a huge batch of this stuff so that they could "walk on water" for their ninja myths episode. It was pretty fun to watch.
i wonder if ninjas really did that?
we made it in class and we werent "supposed tooo" throw it
but somehow it splated on the chalkboard anyway (more like a *thunk then *spluuuuuutttttchhhhhhhh)
dude, ninjas TOTALLY did that.
you know it! and as they were walking across it they would show off, by droping a body into it in front of them, wait until its sunk down then step in the exact place it sunk and scare the crap out of anyone watcing. (thats a lot of cornstarch and water!)
does this all mean jesus was a ninja??
No...i am NOT a ninja
I'm pretty sure chain mail does not work that way at all, the links don't really ever change states, they just provide a surface that can't easily be cut and spreads impacts over a significantly larger surface area due to the fact that the links are all interlocked and have to move together, if it behaved like a non Newtonian fluid it would be more like the shields in the Dune series in that a slow object could pass through them and still stab people.
[quote="Charlie"]No...i am NOT a ninja[/quote]
I don't care your not a ninja! I'm asking about jesus not Al Rocker!
[quote="MrJoe"]I'm pretty sure chain mail does not work that way at all, the links don't really ever change states, they just provide a surface that can't easily be cut and spreads impacts over a significantly larger surface area due to the fact that the links are all interlocked and have to move together, if it behaved like a non Newtonian fluid it would be more like the shields in the Dune series in that a slow object could pass through them and still stab people.[/quote]
Actually it does both of those.
If you place a piece of chainmail on a flexible surface like yer gut or a couch or something and mash something into it, the links actually do get pulled towards the cut...and then they spread the force of the cut over a larger area.
Chainmail obviously doesn't work *exactly* like a non newtonian fluid, but it has some of the properties...
[quote="copperdusk"][quote="Charlie"]No...i am NOT a ninja[/quote]
I don't care your not a ninja! I'm asking about jesus not Al Roker![/quote]
My cover is blown!!!!
Damn you!
[quote="Charlie"]....... So if you squeeze water, it will stay the same state. But if you squeeze ice or snow, it will actually begin to melt (turn into the liquid, because you are forcing the molecules closer together).[/quote]
And hence.....if I squeeze gas, it'll make sound.
No but really, would the Non-newtonian fluid make good body armor? Could you keep it nicely flexible under average human movement, but when an object runs into it rapidly, it hardens? But I think body & chain armor has to do with diffusion of the impact and not just raw stopping power. But I don't know.
Hehe I made a fart joke.