![]() ![]() ![]() Then the surfaces can ‘feel’ each other and form hydrogen bonds. When oobleck is stirred or punched, the cornstarch particles get pushed close together. Sam: Hydrogen bonds are one of the strongest reversible interactions that form between different molecules or surfaces. Then I tested a range of other particles in various fluids until we were confident that the unique solidification behavior you see in Oobleck is due to the chemistry of the particle. That was a big surprise since that solidification and cracking you can feel with Oobleck is really unique! The particles I made were a very different size and shape than cornstarch particles, but they had one thing in common: they had a lot of potential hydrogen bonding sites. I was synthesizing particles to make a non-Newtonian fluid and I found that what I had made felt a lot like Oobleck. Nicole: I worked in a granular physics lab, and there it’s all about the particles in the fluid. Nicole helped bring clarity for a very muddled debate. Non-Newtonian fluids are important to geologists, engineers, chemists, and physicists, but they all use different tools and focus on different things. Sam: That has actually been contentious for quite a while. Nicole: We often think of things as either liquids or solids - but sometimes things fall somewhere in between. When stirred gently, it feels like pancake batter-it’s very liquid-like-but if you punch it, it acts like a solid and can even crack. For example, Oobleck is a non-Newtonian fluid made of cornstarch particles mixed with water. But if you haven’t, a non-Newtonian fluid is a fluid that behaves differently depending on how you treat it. ![]() Sam: If you’ve ever been to our booth at Corn Fest and ran through our Oobleck trough, then you have an idea as to what non-Newtonian fluids are. I researched non-Newtonian fluids for my PhD. Nicole: And I’m Nicole James from NIU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Sam: Welcome to the Sound of Science on WNIJ. ![]()
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