Description:

In this experiment, we will learn how to make slime. Slime is a polymer made from glue and borate ions. It is "non-newtonian" because it is both a solid and a liquid. If you pull it apart quickly, applying a large force, it becomes very viscous and will break in half. However, without any force, it flows like a liquid.

Materials:

• 2/3 cup Elmer's Glue
  

• 1/2 cup water
  

• 1 tsp borax
  

• food coloring
  

• cup
  

• spoon
  

Instructions:

1. Mix glue with food coloring

2. Dissolve borax in water

3. Pour borax-solution into glue a little bit at a time and stir

4. Once the slime becomes firm enough, put it on hard surface and knead it until it becomes the desired consistency.

Explanation, Questions, and Review:

HOW IT WORKS: What makes slime so thick and stretchy? The glue has long flexible molecules in it called polymers. These polymer molecules slide past each other as a liquid. Borax in water forms an ion called the borate ion. When the borax solution is added to the glue solution, the borate ions help link the long polymer molecules to each other so they cannot move and flow as easily. When enough polymer molecules get hooked together in the right way, the glue solution changes from being very liquidy to a rubbery kind of stuff that we call slime.