Hiss! How incredible this scientific experiment is!

Author: Simon Torok (Australia), Paul Hollop | Translator/Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: The Transformation of Grains
1. Scoop a handful of cornstarch into a bowl.
2. Add one tablespoon of water and stir simultaneously until the cornstarch forms a thick paste.
3. Stick your fingers into the paste until they touch the bottom of the bowl.
4. Then, quickly pull them out. What happened?
After adding water and stirring, the liquid produced by the cornstarch is different from ordinary liquids. The tiny particles in the cornstarch repel each other, like two magnets placed together. When you slowly dip your fingers into the mixture, the particles have time to move and allow your fingers to pass through. But when you suddenly stick your fingers in, the particles don’t have time to move and tightly clump together, so it feels like your hand is submerged in a solid.
After a while, you’ll discover more. Slowly stirring the mixture is easy, right? Now, stir it quickly. Then, observe the different effects of these two stirring methods on the mixture. Wow! Amazing Uses
Because cornstarch contains a lot of starch, chefs often use it as a thickener to make soups more viscous. P5