November 29, 2011
Curious Mad Scientist George Help me with this science experiment...
So I have been trying to make slime with my class now for a while (it's a rotation so I get many attempts with many different children). We're using the tried-and-true PVA/Borax recipe (refer to Google) -- however when following the instructions it always ends up firm and rubbery, almost as firm as a bouncy rubber ball but not as elastic...it will snap if you stretch it.
For extra challenge: I have made it once but this experiment is always on the day I am on non-contact so my regular relief teacher is usually in charge.
The one I use is this:
1/2c PVA and 1/2 cup water mixed together
1tbsp Borax in 1/4 water
Add small amounts of the Borax solution until you get slime.
But when my relief teacher does it (and the one time I did it), it goes almost directly to solid rubber ball-state. What am I doing wrong?
(Oh, sorry, one more thing: could it be the actual PVA glue? I initially did it with classroom PVA and NOTHING happened -- turns out classroom PVA has a pathetic amount of PVA in it so it didn't react. Now I am using wood glue.)
This answer is as old-school as it is obvious: owl semen.
Holy God, don't even take the chance
<:(!) male reproductive harm (shudder), lung problems like asthma (double shudder)... Real slime can be harvested from standing water outback.
Oh... And then you could view the natural progression of slime with a microscope or something. (The real horror is that this stuff comes out of the pipes in New Jersey every few months.)
I have never seen this PVA/borax slime but it sounds like what we used to call "Silly putty".
This link suggests that "Adding acid to the slime breaks the crosslinking producing a liquid with lower viscosity". So maybe you should throw in a teaspoon of white vinegar or two. Although I am no chemist and that might have the same effect as mixing toilet cleaning chemicals. :-(
Or perhaps your ratio of PVA to borax needs to be adjusted because your glue is a different percentage solution than your borax.
It looks like you've got too much borax. Most recipes I've seen have 4% borax solution and you've got about a 12% solution (if my math is right). Try 1 tsp borax to one cup of water. If the slime is too runny you can always try kneading it to remove moisture.
I made it yesterday and found that I needed to squeeze a lot of moisture out of it and still got the rubber ball effect. I'll try the more watery solution and see what happens...
(Ha, and I only just noticed that I didn't actually say 1/4 CUP of water for the borax solution, so I'm gload you figured that out.)
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