Oobleck: The Dr. Seuss Science Experiment

Oobleck is a classic science experiment that's perfect for entertaining both kids and adults. If you haven't seen it in action it's very fascinating stuff and before too long you'll have your hands covered with it, happily making a mess that can be washed away with water.

Oobleck is a non-newtonian fluid. That is, it acts like a liquid when being poured, but like a solid when a force is acting on it. You can grab it and then it will ooze out of your hands. Make enough Oobleck and you can even walk on it!

Oobleck gets its name from the Dr. Seuss book Bartholomew and the Oobleck where a gooey green substance, Oobleck, fell from the sky and wreaked havoc in the kingdom. Here the Oobleck will be made in a bowl and will likely make a mess, but only because you can get carried away playing with it.

Step 1 Materials

All you need is corn starch and food coloring and the food coloring is optional.

Recipe:
- 1 cup water
- 1.5-2 cups corn starch
- a few drops of food coloring of your choice

Comments

[Foaly7]

If one were to make a bunch of this in an aboveground pool, would they have to use a big stick to mix it?

[hahafoolishtroll]

yes but i think they would use a spade, or a mechanical arm

[tridario50]

(removed by author or community request)

[Foaly7]

I'll have you know two things: First, i am well beyond two years of age, and second it is an honest question.

[mg0930mg]

Some little person did this at my brother's science fair. I was like OOBLECK! People stared at me, nothing unusual. Good instructable, the stuff feels really weird, is it liquid or solid?

[selena1014720]

It is a mixture of both a liquid and solid. Whan force is put on it, it acts as a solid, when let loose it acts as a liquid!

[ilpug]

Neither! And both! that's the beauty of Non-Newtonian substances!

[Mr. Thrak]

its SOQUID
DUH
DUH
DUHHHH

[ilpug]

I wonder if someone could take a tub of this stuff and hold it in front of a woofer to make it solidify, and then invert the tub and have it not fall out? hmm.

[harveyrabbit75]

This stuff is great!  Especially fun (and a little bit dangerous:Fill a wading pool with Oobleck and try to run across it.

[XOIIO]

Mythbusters tried and adam did run across it! I want to try it soooooooo badly!

[Millawi Legend]

They used custard.

[PikminRed]

Lies: You see them mix it.

[ilpug]

I distinctly remember it being cornstarch and water, i saw that episode. sorry Millawi.

[kelana]

Dr. Seuss got the name oobleck from Javanese (Indonesian dialek) - ublek means mixed together or stir hahaha..nice thanks

[fatfat]

i think it is really cool that it can freeze and be jiggly

[nutsandbolts_64]

Lol, my friend and I tried this a few days ago. We added enough red food coloring to make it look like intestines! If you added enough red food coloring, smother this all over yourself, it might actually make a good zombie outfit...

[bruno13069]

I wonder what would have happened if someone with a super loud woofer or 3 had driven past the tank when the guys were sunk into it.
Would they have been trapped in the liquid like it was concrete, or would they be able to climb out as if on stair steps?

[PikminRed]

EMAIL THE MYTHBUSTERS They would SOOO try it.

[Screamo]

I made this once! its fun! hard not to make a mess though! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED

[Kacheeker]

Oh I have made this before it is so cool! I really like to make tie dye goop. :D

[Aragones3]

What if I use a small electric sander instead of a sub woofer for the Walking Oobleck? Could it eliminate the need of an amp, and a laptop bass generating thingy?

[fungus amungus]

Sure. Try it. The benefit of the speaker is that you can change the frequencies.

[stranoster]

Wow. I used to make this all the time when I was younger... I sure am glad that someone else calls it oobleck though. Everyone I speak to says "Oh, you mean cornflour goop?" . This is well written instructable, but I find that mixing by eye is very appealing because you can get it just right. Anyway, awesome work.

[Xieda]

I never knew it was called oobleck. That's an awesome name for it. We used to call it Magic Mud. Nowhere near as lame as "cornflour goop", nowhere near as groovy as oobleck.

[watermelonhead]

cornflour goop? lame.

[scimom]

I need help for a science fair project. We want to use the non-newtonian fluid and the speaker as our working model. We can't think of a question for the project all we can think of is. Non-Newtonian fluid is affected by stress and pressure, does sound make stress and pressure. We don't like this question. Anyone have a better one using the oobleck and speaker experiment. Thanks

[fwjs28]

sound makes pressure and i guess it would make stress...

[dodo91]

this stuff is fun! i just made it. instead, i used, 1/2 cup water 1 cup starch it makes a smaller amount, in case you dont have enough like i did.

[dodo91]

you will also need to a little more water to the half cup.

[dodo91]

the oobleck looks like monsters are popping out of it!

[dodo91]

if any of you watch Mythbusters, you might have senn an episode were they make tons of this stuff. it was the ninja special. they ran across it. then they sank into it.

[shamanwhitewolf]

Way too much fun! I wonder what the record is for the longest run across a pool of non-Newtonian fluid is. Or the longest, continuous chain of people to run across it.

[tdbtdb]

put oobleck in a balloon for even more tricks. And it lasts longer that way too. Oobleck exposed to air starts to stink after a while. It probably stinks inside the balloon, too. Just don't pop it.

[ceramiceye]

I've made Ooblec a thousand times (quite literally) teaching at the Museum of Science in Boston and after-school programs. Cornstarch is a good recipe because it is readily available, but it is extremely slimy and messy. A recipe that I prefer uses borax and elmers glue and results more similiar to GAK that Nikilodian used to sell. However, Borax is harder to find.
I used the following website for my source, although I prefer to maxe the two mixtures in plastic cups instead of bowls and then make the final mixture in a ziploc baggie. I also usually double or triple the amounts to get more goo out of it.
http://education.jlab.org/beamsactivity/6thgrade/oobleck/index.html
http://education.jlab.org/beamsactivity/6thgrade/oobleck/tea04.l.html

Another good recipie uses liquid starch and glue, with slightly different properties as a result (more stretchy). It is also nicer because its easy, you just add equal amounts of each and a few drops of food coloring.

[fwjs28]

borax isnt too hard to find here in PA(US)...look for laundry booster or in the cleaning isle

[jodij]

When i was 12 yrs.. old my little brother smeared this stuff in my hair, and it wouldn't come out and I had to cut my beautiful long hair really short. Mom was SOOOO MAD. so yeah, i don't have good memories of this stuff and seeing it again gave me the memory recall. POINT: DON'T PUT IT IN HAIR. lol Or on an animal.

[fwjs28]

it should(eventually) wash out...

[jodij]

yeah, i found out a little too late about the fact that if you put vegetable oil or something like that into it, it will slither out of your hair. Instructables wasn't around 30 years ago, and would have been a handy tool to get more info from.lol

[fwjs28]

ooo...i see... :P