Fun At Home Science Activities – Non-Newtonian Fluids for Kids

Written by Victoria, Summer Science Ambassador – Fun at home science activities

This week’s science activity is all about Non-newtonian fluids. Non-Newtonian fluids are liquids with a viscosity that can change. Viscosity is how fast or slow a liquid can flow. If a liquid flows slowly, it is very viscous. When we say a Non-Newtonian fluid can change its viscosity, that means it can go from being able to flow freely to being almost like a solid. One example of a Non-Newtonian is actually ketchup because ketchup hardens over time. This is just one way Non-Newtonian fluids can behave. Like ketchup Non-Newtonian fluids can become more viscous over time, but they can also become less viscous over time or become more or less viscous immediately after stress is put on them.

Experiment

For this week’s experiment we will be making a Non-Newtonian fluid called oobleck.

Purpose

The purpose of this experiment is to show how Non-Newtonian fluids work.

Materials

For this Experiment you will need:

Cornstarch
Water
A plastic bag
A tray

Warning: This experiment can get a bit messy

Instructions:

Step 1: Take a tray and cover it with a plastic bag this makes the experiment easy to dispose of when you are done with it.

Step 2: Now you are going to pour about a cup of cornstarch onto the tray.

Step 3: Next add about ¾ of a cup of water. (You don’t have to use the same amounts just keep the ratio of water to cornstarch 3:4)

Step 4: Finally mix the water and cornstarch together using your hands. As you do this you should notice that it becomes harder and harder to mix because of the pressure but it acts like a liquid when you take the pressure off it. This is exactly how it should react.