A Goopy Substance

During science class, we did a very interesting, but fun lab. We were given goop in a beaker for each lab group. The goop was made of corn starch, water, and food coloring. To do this lab, all you really need is water and cornstarch, but the food coloring just makes the goop a different color. What we did was play with the goop. As we took some goop from the beaker, it felt as if it was a liquid. However, when we let the goop sit in our hands, the goop felt as if it was a solid. When we squeezed the goop, it spilled out of our hands on the lab table. Luckily, the goop was very easy to clean up. As soon as the goop dries (which takes about two minutes), you just pick it off and it comes off instantly.

Before we did the goop lab, our class had to make a hypothesis on the goop. My hypothesis was that if we play with the goop, we will find that the goop is a solid. I thought the goop would be a solid because when I mixed the corn starch, water, and food coloring, it was quite stiff and the spoon did not move around too much. That made me make the inference that the goop was a solid. As soon as I picked up the goop, I thought I was wrong because the goop was not stable. However, I noticed that as it was sitting in my hand, it was a solid. That made me quite confused. It couldn't be a solid and a liquid was what I thought, but I found out that I was wrong. The goop in fact was both a liquid and a solid, which I found out was called an amorphous solid.

In my opinion, I thought the lab was extremely fun. I really enjoyed playing with the goop, and so did the rest of the class. I never thought goop could be so interesting. I squeezed the goop, let it sit in my hands, and simply experimented with it and felt the texture of the goop. The goop made my hands feel so smooth. This lab was absolutely incredible and hopefully we will do it again sometime soon!