Mike Kelberman and I had some fun with cornstarch last night:
Making Non-Newtonian Fluid from Peter Esveld on Vimeo.
Non-Newtonian Fluid – Act 1 from Peter Esveld on Vimeo.
More videos can be found on my vimeo page.
This works because non-newtonian fluids seem to have both properties of solids and liquids. From the wikipedia entry:
A non-Newtonian fluid is a fluid whose flow properties are not described by a single constant value of viscosity. Many polymer solutions and molten polymers are non-Newtonian fluids, as are many commonly found substances such as ketchup, starch suspensions, paint, blood and shampoo. In a Newtonian fluid, the relation between the shear stress and the strain rate is linear (and if one were to plot this relationship, it would pass through theorigin), the constant of proportionality being the coefficient of viscosity. In a non-Newtonian fluid, the relation between the shear stress and the strain rateis nonlinear, and can even be time-dependent. Therefore a constant coefficient of viscosity cannot be defined.
Why were we playing with this? Mostly because it’s fun, but also because of this video:
