Jul 16 2008Non-Newtonian Fluid On Subwoofer
This is a video of a non-Newtonian fluid on a metal sheet set atop a subwoofer. It's pretty cool to watch. In case you forgot (or never knew) what non-Newtonian fluids are, I've copy/pasted some Wikipedia below, and posted another video of some people running across a pool of the stuff after the jump.
A non-Newtonian fluid is a fluid whose flow properties cannot be described by a single constant viscosity. An inexpensive, non-toxic example of a non-Newtonian fluid is a solution of corn starch (corn flour) and water, sometimes called oobleck. The application of force - for example by stabbing the surface with a finger, or rapidly inverting the container holding it - leads to the fluid behaving like a solid rather than a liquid. This is the "shear thickening" property of this non-Newtonian fluid. More gentle treatment, such as slowly inserting a spoon, will leave it in its liquid state. Trying to jerk the spoon back out again, however, will trigger the return of the temporary solid state. A person moving quickly and applying sufficient force with their feet can literally walk across such a liquid.
Mix cornstarch to water in a 2:1 ratio to make your own. But if you don't have any cornstarch handy you can just use pancake batter.
UPDATE: Okay, who believed me and used pancake batter? Anybody, anybody? Suckers! This is the interwebs, folks -- you can't go around believing everything you read. And on an unrelated note, does anybody know how long it typically takes for a Nigerian prince to transfer funds into a U.S. bank account?
Hit the jump for a video of people running across a non-Newtonian fluid.
Incredible Magic Liquid Goo [albotas]
Reader Comments
1. Redd - July 16, 2008 5:46 PM
Hey, that looks familiar... I saw that last night in between the legs of that girl I picked up on the corner. It smelled like sourdough bread. Is that bad?
2. Evan - July 16, 2008 5:48 PM
Im gonna have nightmares
3. TimTim - July 16, 2008 6:10 PM
reminds me of this old 90s horror movie of this killer ooze that would consume anyone in it's path....then it got destroyed by being trapped into a gas tanker and blown up....I wonder what movie that was
4. Keanan - July 16, 2008 6:12 PM
So this is how Jesus can walk pn what apparently is water...... interesting very interesting.
5. Sophie - July 16, 2008 6:13 PM
Pretty wicked
6. We are all going to fucking die! - July 16, 2008 6:36 PM
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
7. Erin - July 16, 2008 7:12 PM
Is it just me, or in the middle of the video, does the goo kind of look like a bunch of dancing zombie people coming up out of the ground and then having an orgy? Kind of like what Michael Jackson would do remarking "Thriller" but instead he'd use kid zombies.....
Ow!
8. nora - July 16, 2008 7:30 PM
exactly what i thought keanan. oh jesus, that tricky bastard.
9. Rush - July 16, 2008 8:05 PM
It reminds me of a Tool video
10. leng - July 16, 2008 8:29 PM
I really hate these people talking about the celebrities or rich men joined the famous sugar daddy and sugar baby service !!!***SugarDaddyconnect . c o m. Could you people please have a break??
11. pascale - July 16, 2008 8:37 PM
I need sugar baby service!!!****~~ Perhaps i'll visit that website! Jesus.
12. sam - July 16, 2008 11:44 PM
What song is that?
Can that stuff be adapted to fight the zombies? A moat that uninfected could cross with steady steps but slow zombies just sink?
13. riz - July 17, 2008 12:20 AM
this shit reminds me of that stuf hexis or whatever from fern gully.
am i right? that thing creeped me out like crazy.
14. jorj - July 17, 2008 2:03 AM
would this work with that oobleck stuff?hmmm
bathtub full of that in an earthquake zone, invading blobs!!!
15. jorj - July 17, 2008 2:05 AM
nvm I didn't watch the video the hole way through before
16. my - July 17, 2008 2:34 AM
i knew it was going to be ooblik in my school we did it and also tryed drying it on a persons face and let it dry took us a long time to get it off the guys face
17. kes - July 17, 2008 3:21 AM
Thats what happends to your brain fluid when you listen to high level bass
18. SlowMonkey - July 17, 2008 5:27 AM
Why didn't they do this demo when I was in grade school? Are they just now knowing this? Cornstarch has been around forever.
19. TheLC - July 17, 2008 5:49 AM
I wonder if it's possible to somersault across that shit...
20. Taco Dave - July 17, 2008 8:39 AM
@#12
I'm not crossing a moat with a bunch of zombies sunk in it. UNDEAD HANDS GRASPING AT YOUR ANKLES OUT OF CORNSTARCH GOO!
@#13
Yes, it's a scientific fact that the smog thing from Fern Gully is the most frightening cartoon character ever. Judge Doom is a close second.
21. Trey - July 17, 2008 9:09 AM
Yeah they did this tirck on an episode of Numb3rs. It was totally awesome. (Yes I realize how big of a dork I am for watching numbers)
22. Quase - July 17, 2008 9:49 AM
AHHH KILL IT!
23. Spelctor - July 17, 2008 12:03 PM
It just cornflour, you can almost roll it into a ball in your hands like modeling clay if your messing around with. I remember playing with it in playschool when I was a kid.
24. Jumpin_J - July 17, 2008 12:25 PM
THE VIDEO'S BEEN PULLED!!! WAAAAHHHH!!!
25. grace - July 17, 2008 1:35 PM
i once tried to cook with corn starch, and it does act in the way that wiki states. it's pretty cool, and i'm really not lying. i think i used corn flour: water, 1:1 instead of 1:2, though. anyway, it's fascinating.
26. Amaranth - July 17, 2008 5:18 PM
that looks like venom's suit breaking out to the beat
27. DeeplyTroubled - July 17, 2008 7:17 PM
What the duce is going on here!? How long has all this been possible? And what the hell is cornstarch?
28. wanks - July 17, 2008 10:37 PM
haha nigerian prince
29. jeramey - July 18, 2008 10:28 AM
ketchup and sand are considered non-newtonian fluids as well, just not as extreme as that stuff
30. BaldApe - July 18, 2008 10:31 AM
You have to be careful. If you let it sit too long, the cornstarch settles to the bottom, and the water left on top doesn't act the way you expect it to.
I saw a show years ago called Kinetic Carnival on an old educational channel on cable. The guy had a tub of the stuff, and he slammed his hand down on it and it spattered all over him. Gotta keep it mixed.
31. Jenn - July 18, 2008 5:24 PM
We make the cornstarch and water thing for the kids I work with they love it!!! its super fun to play with but ultra messy when it gets on your clothes.
32. Elbow - July 18, 2008 11:09 PM
TimTim
I think the Movie was called, "The Stuff" if memory serves me, thats how they killed it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stuff
33. Amy - July 19, 2008 8:32 PM
OMG, I have had a copy of that vid sitting on my shelf for months now - still haven't gone to the bother of digging out my video player to watch it. If only I had known it was as cool as oobleck (and btw, does not the fact that it is called 'oobleck' make it even cooler?).
34. Zippy - July 26, 2008 5:03 PM
@1 Hope you wore a rubber...
@27 I believe cornstartch is a derivative of corn, you know that stuff that they grow in the ground and they turn into fuel, but it takes more energy to make the fuel then it gives off when you burn it. Kinda doesn't make sense, just like this oobleck stuff.
35. Chrisrock - September 3, 2008 10:27 PM
Am chris tall,dark,strng nd fit im search of a sugar mom who would spoil me nd i promisd 2 make her ask 4 me.if interested hola me at tolex4u2000@yahoo.com
36. o dude - October 25, 2008 9:22 PM
could a form of this non-newtonian fluid be used as a kind of bullit proof vest. a version of it taht you could move around with little resistence, but wen the force of a bullit hit the vest it would harden and disperse the blast. that would be kick ass. i was talkin to a friend about the idea and he said they already make ski hats that harden wen you smack your head on a low pine tree branch. same concept except a tree branch doesnt hit quite as hard as a bullit.
37. Jason - April 24, 2010 11:59 PM
Sweetness That looks like fun. I'd like to ride a bike through that.