Wednesday, 14 June 2017


It's a Solid... It's a Liquid... It's oobleck!

Key concepts :
Liquids and solids

1 cup of water
1 to 2 cups of cornstarch
Mixing bowl


Hold a handful in your open palm—what happens?
Image result for oobleck Move your fingers through the mixture slowly, then try moving them faster.
•    What else can you do to test the mixture's properties?
Read on for observations, results and more resources.

Observations and results

Applying pressure to the mixture (oobleck)  increases its viscosity (thickness). A quick tap on the surface of Oobleck will make it feel hard, because it forces the cornstarch particles together. But when you dip your hand slowly into the mix, and see what happens—your fingers slide in as easily as thoroughly (like liquid). Moving slowly gives the cornstarch particles time to move out of the way. The Oobleck mixture isn't your typical liquid—or solid. The cornstarch-and-water mixture creates a fluid that acts more like quicksand than water: applying force (squeezing or tapping it) causes it to become thicker. If you were trapped in a tub of Oobleck, what would be the best way to escape?


  1. Kia ora Philomena. My name is Heaven I am in room 4 and I am year 7. I really liked reading this piece of information. And did you know that I have seen this substince all over youtube. And I hope I can make that some day. Well that is all from me, love to talk to you more but I'll blog ya later.

  2. Hi there Philomena, My name is Raphaela from a different school called St Patricks...
    Funny eh?
    This piece is informative and taught me a lot. What did you like the most about this experiment? It looks like fun stuff, it must of taken a while to wash up!! :) Why can't we get it into our eyes? Please answer these questions. I would love to hear back from you!
    Blog ya later