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All credits go to the people over at the squishy circuits website.
I was on hackaday earlier this year and I found an article on squishy circuits. I thought making circuits from play dough sounded like a very interesting idea. I did some research into it and it seemed simple enough; different ingredients created different values of resistance and so on. I thought about it, and decided that I had to make some for myself. I threw some together and it worked great! In this instructable I will provide the recipe for conductive dough, insulating dough, as well as some ideas for circuits you can build out of it. I think this has enormous potential in a classroom setting, being able to teach students how circuits work, something that I didn't even understand until about three years ago. I can just imagine a whole class of students showing off their creations that glow, and make cool noises.
I was on hackaday earlier this year and I found an article on squishy circuits. I thought making circuits from play dough sounded like a very interesting idea. I did some research into it and it seemed simple enough; different ingredients created different values of resistance and so on. I thought about it, and decided that I had to make some for myself. I threw some together and it worked great! In this instructable I will provide the recipe for conductive dough, insulating dough, as well as some ideas for circuits you can build out of it. I think this has enormous potential in a classroom setting, being able to teach students how circuits work, something that I didn't even understand until about three years ago. I can just imagine a whole class of students showing off their creations that glow, and make cool noises.
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Signing UpStep 1Conductive dough
In order to make the conductive dough, you will need the following:
1 cup Water
1 1/2 cups Flour
1/4 cup Salt
3 Tbsp. Cream of Tartar*
1 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
Food Coloring
*9 Tbsp. of Lemon Juice may be Substituted
Mix water, 1cup of flour, salt, cream of tartar, vegetable oil, and food coloring in a medium sized pot.
Cook over medium heat and stir continuously.
The mixture will begin to boil and start to get chunky.
Keep stirring the mixture until it forms a ball in the center of the pot.
Once a ball forms, place the ball on a lightly floured surface.
Slowly knead the remaining flour into the ball until you’ve reached a desired consistency.
1 cup Water
1 1/2 cups Flour
1/4 cup Salt
3 Tbsp. Cream of Tartar*
1 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
Food Coloring
*9 Tbsp. of Lemon Juice may be Substituted
Mix water, 1cup of flour, salt, cream of tartar, vegetable oil, and food coloring in a medium sized pot.
Cook over medium heat and stir continuously.
The mixture will begin to boil and start to get chunky.
Keep stirring the mixture until it forms a ball in the center of the pot.
Once a ball forms, place the ball on a lightly floured surface.
Slowly knead the remaining flour into the ball until you’ve reached a desired consistency.
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But hey, that's science!
I might well combine this with the "555 piano" circuit:
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-an-electronic-piano-with-a-555-IC/
You could tape a wire to a spoon and make a "keyboard" out of dough. I guess you would make "fingers" for keys joined by a fairly thin bar at the top to give the resistance.
The resistance of the dough would probably be high enough to give a different pitch for each note! If not, just use less salt in the recipe.
I sometimes do simple projects with my 6-year old and some of her friends so we might make this one, I reckon.
( we dont gt sugru in SA )
resistance=resistivity*length/cross sectional area.
I would counsel against traveling with this, as it looks ever-so-slightly like a plastic explosive. An educational plastic explosive, though, no matter how sketchy wires protruding from a plasticine substance may look.