When is a liquid not a liquid?

In Room 4 we had a visit from Marion Wood, a scientist. We spoke about liquid - how do we know something is a liquid? It generally takes the shape of the container but can freely move.
A liquid can be changed by temperature. If water becomes very cold it turns to ice. If water is made very hot it will become steam (gas).
A liquid can also be changed by hitting or striking it fast.

We made oobleck to see if we could change the liquid by pushing our finger in fast.

 

 

 

We added corn flour to the water.
We mixed it slowly until it looked like thick custard.
It felt smooth and runny.

Then we pushed our finger fast into the cup.
It became solid and hard.


We had lots of fun!
Thank you Marion for sharing your expert knowledge with us!