Watch this video until the very end because the last effect is the most spectacular. The video is in real time, meaning it is not played faster. The liquid is in a bowl and being vibrated, it should behave like a normal liquid but instead it performs like some sort of alien sci-fi substance. I dont’ know much more about it, if anyone does please educate me.
This is actually quite old and I reproduced it and took a webcam vid of it, though because the webcam sucked, so did the video, but you can see what’s going on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyzUGRr1OJs
Thank you for your comment.
Your video is impressive too, great job !
well, with my limited insight, i will guess that by changing the way the liquid vibrates, you’ve changed the structure that the molecules are bonded in. It’s sort of like boiling water. Water changes in to gas form because you speed up the molecules with heat. I suppose a similar procedure is being done with the faraday waves.
Cornstarch is a type of non newtonian liquid, my guess is that the effect is due to this. for those who dont know, a non newtonian liquid is liquid when moved gently, but solid when impacted hard
Its good to know !! Im so ignorant about this 🙂
That would be a great way to mess with your friends heads, especially in a dorm room or something.
I know, I’m slightly immature, but still!
5 year olds have been doing this for years:
http://www.kinderteacher.com/oobleck.htm
these guys just recorded it on film, and applied some fancy thousand-dollar paintcan shaker.
:shrug:
CornStarch is reactive to pressure, if you keep it moving in your hands it’s solid like putty, if you stop moving it it returns to liquid. You can bounce off a bucket of it, but standing on it you will sink. The vibrations cause standing waves which are pressurised areas, hence the fingers that are produced. It’s funky stuff
The cornstarch mixture is a non-newtonian fluid, i.e. it’s a fluid that doesn’t behave like a fluid should. The vibrations aren’t neccessary for it to behave oddly, however, they add a cool effect. If you were to have a large pool of the stuff, you could run across it without sinking at all. Of course, you would have to run: it only acts like a solid when stress is applied. If you were to walk or stand there, you’d sink as if it were water. Very slimy water.
Newtonian materials exhibit linear stress vs strain behavior (water). Stuff like cornstarch in water is dilatent, meaning that the stress increases with strain. So you try to push it harder it resists and begins to behave like a solid. Pick up a glob of cornstarch and water and throw it at your brother if you doubt it. (Hit him on the arm, not his head.)
it’s called oobleck. we learned about it in a science course. read the dr. seuss book bartholomew and the oobleck.
I saw it on mythbuster, they gave an explanation.
The muth about “walking on water”, the special ninja show