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Making SLIME
Supplies
1, Elmers glue
2. Baking soda (about 1 teaspoon, but you can add a little more!)
3. Contact Solution with boric acid and sodium borate
4. Food dye for color
5. Glitter for fun
Slime making is a chemistry experiment involving polymers and cross-linking. Glue contains long, slippery polymer chains (Polyvinyl Alcohol or PVA). Saline solution provides boron (via boric acid/sodium borate) that acts as an activator, bridging these chains together, while baking soda strengthens the mixture’s structure, transforming the liquid glue into a solid-like, stretchy substance.
Science Connection:
By using glue to create slime, you are exploring polymers. Polymers are large molecules that can be thought of as chains made up of smaller units called monomers. When a liquid activator (like the saline solution with baking soda) is added to the polymer (like glue), it causes a chemical reaction. The activator molecules attach themselves to the polymers, causing some of the bonds that hold the chains together to break and then rearrange, forming links with other parts of the chain. This process is known as cross-linking. As the polymers become cross-linked, the slime starts to thicken and solidify. The more cross-links form, the thicker the slime becomes, allowing it to be pulled, stretched and molded into different shapes.
Suminagashi (Paper Marbling)
Supplies
Plastic container big enough to hold paper of choice, bigger than standard 8.5 x 11 recommended
Ink of choice, I recommend This Pack but any India Ink will do
Water
Paper - I find cheap printer paper works best!
Paint brush or stick for marbling
In an activity that integrates science and art, you can see, experience and harness the phenomenon of surface tension as you create beautiful works of art. Two experiments related to surface tension—floating objects on the surface of water and creating original artwork using floating inks. In the creating process you learn the historical and cultural information through an introduction to the ancient Japanese art form of suminagashi. There is also an understanding of surface tension that can be applied to solve real-world engineering problems and create useful inventions.
Engineering Connection:
The importance of water tension in engineering design cannot be underestimated. Its use in ink-jet printers is well known, and water tension is also a key factor in the study of biofilms and monolayers.
It is helpful to add small pieces of dense paper (like watercolor paper) on top of the water to place the ink on before marbling.
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