Non-Newtonian Fluid Video

Isn't this stuff just http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscoelastic ? Looks to me like a gloopy version of the kids toy sold under the names of 'Potty Putty' and 'Silly Putty' (to mention two I've seen). It's the stuff you can roll into a nice bouncy ball, or stretch out like chewing-gum, but if you hit it, it can shatter.

Video's still fun to watch tho', Thanks .

BTW you can get the same effect - on a smaller scale - when mixing up corn flour & water to a paste for thickening stews etc. If you let it settle, it take some hard stirring to get it 'thin' enough to mix into the stew without making lumps (yeuch !)

The video is awesome, thanks.

Thanks,

Great video: I'm sure you're right about it being corn flour and water, however, I think the effect is the opposite of quicksand (thixotropic?).

I think thixotropic stuff works the other way round - like eg non-drip paint. If you leave it still, it thickens (so it won't drip off the brush or run down the wall). When you stir it up, it goes thin (so the action of painting it on allows it to spread evenly). Non-drip paint cans usually have 'DO NOT STIR' on the label.

BTW they also use thixotropic mud in deep drilling operations - when the drill is still, it thickens to form a seal, but when the drill rotates, it thins to reduce the resistance.

Having just read what I've written - maybe this gloop is thixotropic !

If I recall some of my 6th grade chemistry experiments, potatoe or is that potato starch has the same characteristics, which was a base ingredients for the development for earlier plastics, (not bakelite)

Maybe that's the part left out of the Bible story...the 'real' miracle, unseen by the disciples, was that Jesus created cornstarch as he went along, distributing it into the waves in front of him as He walked across the sea...Peter, of course, stopped moving his feet to look at the waves...

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Yes, I expect someone to be offended that I'm a Christian with a sense of humor...

...or maybe that I'm an Engineer with a sense of humor...

Yeah, it is both, a non Newtonian fluid and a fantastic video. Es un video fantástico. Sí.

Sabido is right. There are different categories of fluids based on how they react to different shear rates.

In the video, you can think of the person running quickly on the material, as supplying a very high shear rate to the material. the material reacts as a dilatant material and the viscosity increases. The fluid therefore acts like a solid.