How many pounds of cornstarch do you add to 5 gallons of water to make a non-newtonian mixture?

Answer 1

the mixture for Oobleck (non newtonian fluid) is about 1.5 parts cornstarch for each part water

so for 5 gallons of water one needs 7.5 gallons of corn starch.

which means you would need a container that can hold 12.5 gallons.

I'm assuming you want to fill a 5 gallon container full of oobleck

so if you want to fill a 5 gallon conatiner with oobleck you have to use the relationship 1.5X+X=5. where x is the gallons of water and 1.5x is the gallons of oobleck.

which would give us 3 gallons of cornstarch and 2 gallons of water.

so given that cornstarch weighs .333lbs per cup.

3 gallons * 4quarts/gallon *4cups/quart = 48 cups

48cups * .333 lbs/cup ~ 16 lbs

so 16 lbs of cornstarch to 2 gallons of water will fill a 5 gallon container with oobleck. you may need to use a little more or less, but this should get you close to the right mixture.