Post by kristalina on Jul 22, 2014 17:36:15 GMT
Here’s the easiest way to make a big batch Elmer’s Slime (aka: GAK). The measurements do not have to be exact but it’s a good idea to start with the proportions below for the first batch.
Ingredients:
8 oz bottle of Elmer's glue
Borax powder - 1 teaspoon (in the laundry section of the store "20 Mule Team Borax"
warm water
food coloring
1. Empty the entire bottle of glue into a mixing bowl. Fill the empty bottle with warm water and shake Pour the glue-water mixture into the mixing bowl and use the spoon to mix well.
2. Add a drop or two of food coloring. You can divide the mixture at this point and make a couple different colors.
3.Measure 1/2 cup of warm water into the plastic cup and add a teaspoon of Borax powder to the water. Stir the solution – don’t worry if all of the powder dissolves. This Borax solution is the secret linking agent that causes the Elmer’s Glue molecules to turn into slime.
4.While stirring the glue in the mixing bowl, slowly add a little of the Borax solution. Immediately you’ll feel the long strands of molecules starting to connect. It’s time to abandon the spoon and use your hands to do the serious mixing. Keep adding the Borax solution to the glue mixture (don’t stop mixing) until you get a perfect batch of Elmer’s slime. You might like your slime more stringy while others like firm slime.
5.When you’re finished playing with your Gak seal it up in a zipper-lock bag for safe keeping.
How Does It Work?
The mixture of Elmer’s Glue with Borax and water produces a putty-like material called a polymer. In simplest terms, a polymer is a long chain of molecules. You can use the example of cooking spaghetti to better understand why this polymer behaves in the way it does. When a pile of freshly cooked spaghetti comes out of the hot water and into the bowl, the strands flow like a liquid from the pan to the bowl. This is because the spaghetti strands are slippery and slide over one another. After awhile, the water drains off of the pasta and the strands start to stick together. The spaghetti takes on a rubbery texture. Wait a little while longer for all of the water to evaporate and the pile of spaghetti turns into a solid mass -- drop it on the floor and watch it bounce.
Many natural and synthetic polymers behave in a similar manner. Polymers are made out of long strands of molecules like spaghetti. If the long molecules slide past each other easily, then the substance acts like a liquid because the molecules flow. If the molecules stick together at a few places along the strand, then the substance behaves like a rubbery solid called an elastomer. Borax is the compound that is responsible for hooking the glue’s molecules together to form the putty-like material. There are several different methods for making this putty-like material. Some recipes call for liquid starch instead of Borax soap. Either way, when you make this homemade Silly Putty you are learning about some of the properties of polymers.
Gak is very easy to make, but it's not exactly what you'll find at the toy store. So, what's the "real" slime secret? It's an ingredient called polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The cross-linking agent is still Borax, but the resulting slime is longer lasting, more transparent... it's the real deal.
Most of this is from SteveSpangler.com - a cool site with a lot of science experiments for kids, check him out.
Ingredients:
8 oz bottle of Elmer's glue
Borax powder - 1 teaspoon (in the laundry section of the store "20 Mule Team Borax"
warm water
food coloring
1. Empty the entire bottle of glue into a mixing bowl. Fill the empty bottle with warm water and shake Pour the glue-water mixture into the mixing bowl and use the spoon to mix well.
2. Add a drop or two of food coloring. You can divide the mixture at this point and make a couple different colors.
3.Measure 1/2 cup of warm water into the plastic cup and add a teaspoon of Borax powder to the water. Stir the solution – don’t worry if all of the powder dissolves. This Borax solution is the secret linking agent that causes the Elmer’s Glue molecules to turn into slime.
4.While stirring the glue in the mixing bowl, slowly add a little of the Borax solution. Immediately you’ll feel the long strands of molecules starting to connect. It’s time to abandon the spoon and use your hands to do the serious mixing. Keep adding the Borax solution to the glue mixture (don’t stop mixing) until you get a perfect batch of Elmer’s slime. You might like your slime more stringy while others like firm slime.
5.When you’re finished playing with your Gak seal it up in a zipper-lock bag for safe keeping.
How Does It Work?
The mixture of Elmer’s Glue with Borax and water produces a putty-like material called a polymer. In simplest terms, a polymer is a long chain of molecules. You can use the example of cooking spaghetti to better understand why this polymer behaves in the way it does. When a pile of freshly cooked spaghetti comes out of the hot water and into the bowl, the strands flow like a liquid from the pan to the bowl. This is because the spaghetti strands are slippery and slide over one another. After awhile, the water drains off of the pasta and the strands start to stick together. The spaghetti takes on a rubbery texture. Wait a little while longer for all of the water to evaporate and the pile of spaghetti turns into a solid mass -- drop it on the floor and watch it bounce.
Many natural and synthetic polymers behave in a similar manner. Polymers are made out of long strands of molecules like spaghetti. If the long molecules slide past each other easily, then the substance acts like a liquid because the molecules flow. If the molecules stick together at a few places along the strand, then the substance behaves like a rubbery solid called an elastomer. Borax is the compound that is responsible for hooking the glue’s molecules together to form the putty-like material. There are several different methods for making this putty-like material. Some recipes call for liquid starch instead of Borax soap. Either way, when you make this homemade Silly Putty you are learning about some of the properties of polymers.
Gak is very easy to make, but it's not exactly what you'll find at the toy store. So, what's the "real" slime secret? It's an ingredient called polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The cross-linking agent is still Borax, but the resulting slime is longer lasting, more transparent... it's the real deal.
Most of this is from SteveSpangler.com - a cool site with a lot of science experiments for kids, check him out.
