What is Digg?77 Comments
- TenebrousX, on 10/12/2007, -2/+77Me: The pipe seems to be clogged.
Plumber: Ya, there is a bunch of gooey stuff in it. I have no idea how to get it out. What the heck did you do in that bathtub.
**awkward silence** - SamsLembas, on 10/12/2007, -4/+70I hope you didn't flush it down the drain.....
You: The pipe seems to be clogged.
Plumber: Ya, there is a bunch of gooey stuff in it. I have no idea how to get it out. What the heck did you do in that bathtub.
You: Umm.... Filled it with cornstartch.
Pumber: Why?
You: So I could stand in it. - savingadvice, on 10/12/2007, -2/+58very cool...so that's how you walk on water...
- griz, on 10/21/2007, -2/+52Myself and some friends once bought up all the corn starch at a Stop & Shop and did this in a bathtub. Loads of fun standing in it with bare feet.
Even more fun is the look you get when buying 30 boxes of corn starch. - iomegaboy, on 10/21/2007, -7/+53Dugg. Don't remember reading about corn starch in the bible.
- camintmier, on 10/21/2007, -1/+44Doing a belly-flop into it would probably feel like falling on a brick wall, then feel it slowly devour you. I can't swim, so I'm definitely not trying it.
- aldente, on 10/12/2007, -0/+39Simply awesome. I wonder how much cornstarch this took?
Also, I wonder what a belly flop would feel like. - wacki, on 10/12/2007, -1/+34We did a physics dude to come in here with a more technical explanation. The whole liquid + stress = solid thing is very interesting.
- Legato, on 10/12/2007, -2/+33and how did you get it out?
- falstaff, on 10/12/2007, -2/+32I can't imagine anybody who didn't do the whole "make a cornstarch-and-water ball and then let it melt between your fingers" by the third grade, but I had no idea it was strong enough (or reacted quickly enough) to support a person running on it. That's the coolest thing I've seen all week.
- Ducttape08, on 10/12/2007, -0/+28it does not behave like any newtonian substances... jk
it is because it does not act solely as a solid or liquid - griz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+28Keep adding water to dilute and rinse it down. Takes a while, but it goes down.
My friend, whose bathtub it was, never said he had a problem with the drain afterwards. - dhughes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+27 Under compression the molecules bunch up and that causes the cornstarch to get a lot stiffer, when the source of compression is gone the molecules are not as close together and it becomes a liquid again.
Something like cornstarch only more hi tech was used during the last Winter Olympics, skiers were the ones who used it the most since during a fall sudden large forces would make it stiffen to protect their knees, elbows, spine etc.. - up2l8, on 10/12/2007, -0/+23If you thought that was cool, check out what this stuff does in the lab.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDzampa3xrc - hiscity, on 10/12/2007, -1/+24Hmmm.... What happens when you pour it?
Does it stack up in a column, then melt away?
When pouring, if you hit the stream with a baseball bat, would a chunk get launched "out of the park?"
If a chunk is slammed hard enough, and it hits a wall still in a chunk, does it "splat" or "thud?" Does it turn back to liquid in mid-air?
What would happen if two streams intersect?
What would happen if a stream was poured into a rotating fan?
Is it possible to ride a bicycle across a pool of liquid corn starch (LCS)?
What would happen if a bowling ball were thrown in the pool? Or a watermelon?
If you make "LCS balloons," (like water balloons), what happens when they hit?
Can compressed air be used to launch chunks that load in a chamber from a container?
What would happen if you set off a compressed air blast under the surface?
Would a vibrating sander float on top of a tub of LCS?
What happens if you drop a plastic soda bottle filled with carbon dioxide ice in a tub or pool of LCS?
If you filled a plastic sandwich bag with LCS, would you dare hit it with a hammer? How about a filled balloon?
What would a shoe insert filled with LCS feel like to walk on?
What would boxing gloves filled with LCS feel like?
Can LCS be karate chopped? Can it be chopped with an axe?
What happens if a bullet is fired into a balloon of LCS? a tub? a pool?
Will corn starch mixed with oil have the same properties? ... alcohol? ... gasoline?
Can the viscosity of LCS be changed using an electric field?
How would bicycle innertubes filled with LCS react while riding a bike?
There certainly seems to be plenty of opportunity to make web videos to answer such questions.... - JHawk24821, on 10/12/2007, -4/+27@ triska
You are wrong and right: People that are referring to "walking on water" are in the wrong, as this is clearly not water. However, this fluid does support their weight when they run on it - I know because I have made and played with this very fluid.
How to make the stuff: Grab a box of cornstarch, available at any grocer, and mix it about 50/50 with plain water. You may need a little more or less water depending on the humidity and what result you are looking for. Once the powdered cornstarch is well mixed with the water, pour it from one container to another - note that it pours like a liquid.
Now, make a fist and hit the surface of the liquid, making sure to use a good amount of force (not to hard, don't want to break the bowl) - notice that the fluid becomes a semi-solid for a split second. Awesome, isn't it?
They are doing the same thing on a much large scale. - siodine, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20Why is it called non-newtonian?
- Magnum, on 10/12/2007, -3/+21......Owie.....
- wacki, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19ok, found a physics dude at wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Newtonian_fluid
:-D
Although I'd still like something a little bit more technical. This doesn't go into details. - lostradamus, on 10/12/2007, -4/+19@ triska
haha owned! Try to look smart but fall on your face. - Plezops, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16This is very easy to get up out of it. You just have to move slowly and not use lots of force. And generally quicksand is only a foot or two deep, and it is also quite easy to get out of, not like anything you have seen on TV or in the movies where it eats entire elephants... and people... and cars.
- Hootyea, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14Seriously, what the ***** are you talking about?
- everfalling, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13your good ol' elementry school science experiment: oobleck!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oobleck - Gundabad, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13anyone else notice that all of the related youtube videos are about a Japanese guy who sets up Rube Goldberg machines that always end up with a flame burning his ass? Friggin weird
- 343GuiltySpark, on 10/21/2007, -0/+12That mixture makes a person extremely buoyant, as you can by the see by the guy floating in the video. No need to swim.
- Madh2orat, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14Mythbusters did an episode on quicksand a while ago. You are actually more buoyant in quicksand, than in straight water. Therefore, it is actually safer in quicksand than normal water, well, as long as you don't drink it.
- Rostin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11That isn't a question that's easy to answer in two or three sentences. To understand what a non-newtonian fluid is, you need to know what a newtonian fluid is. To know what a newtonian fluid is, you need to understand the concept of viscosity. Basically, viscosity is a fluid's resistance to flow.
Imagine we have two parallel plates with a fluid inbetween. We hold the bottom plate stationary and move the top plate in a parallel direction at a constant speed. The force we have to apply is related to the viscosity of the fluid. The higher the viscosity, the more force it will take to move the plate at a particular speed.
Now, if the fluid between the plates is Newtonian, three things are true: First, as soon as we apply a force, the plate moves at least a little, no matter how small the force is. Second, doubling the force doubles the plate's speed. Third, the response to applied force is time-independent. Meaning, if I apply a constant force, the velocity will be the same 10 minutes from now or next year. Water is a good example of a newtonian flluid.
Non-newtonian fluids violate some combination of those three criteria. They behave like a solid until we apply a certain "yield stress", then they behave like a fluid, for example. Ketchup does this (you have to bang on the bottle to get it moving, then it flows quickly). Or, their viscosity changes with velocity, so that doubling the force doesn't necessarily double the velocity. If the viscosity goes up as the velocity increases, the fluid is called "shear thickening". The cornstarch suspension is a shear thickening fluid. If you stepped into it very slowly (low velocity -> low viscosity), you'd sink. - JHawk24821, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Whoa....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKxKVpHZe5Q&mode=related&search= - ddotccDPU, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Wow, i remember making this stuff at summer camp... I think we called it "blech" or something to that effect. Good for HOURS of fun, especially when u chuck it at someone.
- griz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7@camintmier
The coolest part about it is if you try to move quickly in it, it stops you. Yes, falling on it will feel like landing on concrete. However, if you move slowly through it, it loosens up.
Fill a large bowl with it and smack it with your hand. It stops dead. Then place your hand on the surface and slowly wiggle it and press down. It drops right in. - swifty12, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9reminds me of when john tickle did it on brainiac using custard. They filled a pool up and he ran around on that.
- caffeinejunkiex, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Don't cross the streams!
(Out of curiosity, what would happen if you fire a bullet at it?) - Manguskahn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6That stuff could be used for awsome sports... The 1 mile cornstarch water run, horse racing on a liquid... I wonder what would happen if you drove a car on it... Would it sink because of the added weight or would the weight be counteracted by increased rigidity of the cornstarch solution?
- aplardi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I spent hours in playing with that stuff as a kid. It was a school project or something in 4th grade. Very fun. Ah memories.
- JHawk24821, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7... as this is to having a point.
- gamer31, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7@ dhughes
You were thinking of d3o material
http://www.d3o.com/index.php?cont=1_home§ion=0 - zediker, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6yea, slimes are cool =D
- jessecrouch, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10Jesus of Nazereth's Secrets REVEALED! NEXT ON FOX!
- dhughes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5@drbroccoli That would be true if not for buoyancy, you'll float on it you won't sink,
- MrFur1ous, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I agree, those videos are freaking bizarre. I'm a little afraid to keep looking at them.
- Geekbeard, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8So when my math prof. said she was studying non-newtonian fluid dynamics, is this what she meant?
Nevertheless, Jesus could walk on water too. Watch: just turn around. Come on, turn around. - gr8edchz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4There are several past stories about this on Digg and lots of interesting comments. Several experiments on YouTube. But, dugg for enduring interestingness.
I started thinking this would be great for liquid armor of course; but probably not for bullets. So did lots of other folks according to Google. Seems like plenty of companies are trying to patent this basic material or already have. Prior art in all those 4th grade science classes?
I'm no physicist by any means. But, I don't imagine it would stop a bullet. So much force applied to such a small area so fast. I was thinking something like a thin, honeycomb filled, chest shaped pad made of kevlar. Each honeycomb (think bee hive full of honey) filled with a few millimeters of this goop or some other long chained polymer (which I know nothing about). That would be interesting to shoot a bullet at because I would like to know how the force of the bullet would redistribute. I'm sure it would still hurt like hell but seems like the vest would take a lot of the load off. Even if it wasn't kevlar it would be good for one use I suppose to protect from a round for two of bullets. Maybe making non-newtonian fluid filled kevlar tiles for armored vehicles or something.. call em.. NNFFTFAV's..
Then I wondered to myself. What is the freezing point? What is the boiling point? How does temperature affect the properties of the material? The last thing JoeSoldier said was, Sarge, "my liquid armor is frozen.... unf"
Then, I saw over on YouTube all the experiments where the vibrate this stuff at specific frequencies. Very cool. Reminded me of pictures I've seen of the sun so then I though. What is the frequency of vibration of the sun? Is the molten liquid on the sun a non-newtonian material and solar flares caused by the vibrations? I have NO idea if that's true or false mind you.. Just a random thought.
This happens to me when I drink to much coffee, I can't sleep, then it rains a lot. I'm going to put cornstarch in my coffee and market it to starbucks as a non-newtonian latte tomorrow. - Rostin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Your first guess was right. There's a chemical engineer at the Uni. of Delaware working on enhancing kevlar vests using the same principle that's at work in this cornstarch. He gave a talk at my dept last tuesday, by coincidence. :) Four layers of kevlar with his material added has the same stopping power as 20 layers without. It also works agains knives and icepicks, something kevlar alone can't stop. He said that bullproof vests could be as light as a heavy sports coat. Here's a link to his research:
http://www.che.udel.edu/research_groups/wagner/research/armor.html - patrickbwells, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Under pressure this stuff will crack and shatter just like a solid but reverts to its liquid state within a second of the pressure being released. If you can imagine taking a giant chuck of ice and slamming it into wall, then watching it slowly melt. It would be like that only sped up by about 3 or 4 thousand times.
- TheCommodore6, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3That was freaking amazing.
Especially the "fingers" thing at the end. It looked like the octopus-thing at the gate to Moria in LotR or any other water beast in a scifi/fantasy movie. - PacoDG, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Im sorry, I am a Blaintologist.
- Kickersny, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2That was incredibly awesome. Thank you for that link.
- thepatryn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The video is from a program of Spanish TV channel Cuatro, called "El Hormiguero" (The Anthill): http://www.cuatro.com/microsites/el_hormiguero/
There's a section in the program called "La ciencia de Flipy" (Flipy's science), in which they did this pool thing in two programs: http://www.cuatro.com/microsites/el_hormiguero/cientifico.html (there are videos to the right) - npsken, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1To all the people talking about Jesus:
The only way for him to get all that cornstarch would be through another miracle making the miracle in question, walking on water, the result of another miracle. - oli182, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1They should make roads out of this stuff and let the sunday drivers to sink and die
also a neat cure for traffic jams -
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