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Asked by phished
I think you asked this just to see some awesome videos.
An explanation will follow!
… and who doesn’t like Ellen?
Alright, alright, that’s good enough. You get the idea — it’s a vaguely creepy goo, and you can make in your own kitchen!
Simply stated, a fluid is non-newtonian if it’s viscosity changes under stress (like a punch, or vibration from a speaker).
Cornstarch is a particularly fun and cheap demonstration, and silly putty does the same thing.
But why?
In “normal” newtonian fluids, when you put pressure on the fluid the molecules can slip past each other at a rate that’s constant with the pressure. When a non-newtonian fluid is put under pressure, the molecules have trouble flowing past each other and lock up. It requires a certain density of molecules to work, otherwise they can’t get close enough to connect.
You can experiment on your own: take a bowl half full of warm water, and slowly add cornstarch. It’ll slowly thicken up, but it doesn’t start acting strange until cornstarch makes up about 1/3 of the volume of the mixture. The effect will gradually increase, and when cornstarch makes up about 2/3rds of the mixture, you’ll have a pretty fantastic substance to play with!
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