UNIVERSITY Cy Rowett Institute or ABERDEEN » of Nutrition and Health Slippery, slimy starch This experiment does not have much to do with nutrition, but it is great fun and crosses into the topic of the science of materials. Aim: To make starch balls that bounce! You'll need: * Borax solution ° PVA glue ° Water * Comflour * food colouring (optional) * Tablespoon * Teaspoon © Small bow! for mixing What to do: Put on your lab coat/ protective clothing and safety spectacles. Make sure your hair is tied back. 1) In the small bow! mix one tablespoon of PVA glue with 2 teaspoons of cornflour. 2) Add one teaspoon of your borax solution to the flour/PVA mixture and stir well. 3) The mixture will become stiff - tip it out of the cup and knead well with your hands. 4) Roll into @ ball. 5) Does it bounce? Be careful where it bounces! 6) It can be difficult to get the mixture just right for a bouncy ball — see Exploring the science:Exploring the science: PVA (polyvinyl acetate) is a polymer or ‘long chained molecule’ - so too is starch (the cornflour). The borax causes cross-links to develop between the two polymers and the mixture becomes stiff. It is important to get the correct amount of borax, too much i.e. too many cross-links, and the mixture is brittle; too little and the mixture flows; just right and the mixture can be rolled into a ball and bounced! Polymers (like PVA and starch) are a very important part of our world. Want to explore further back in the classroom? * Dilute the borax solution by adding a little more water and instead of bouncy balls you can make ‘silly putty’ - when it is pulled slowly will stretch, pulled quickly and it will snap. * Experiment with varying the proportions of the ingredients to investigate what sort of material you get. Visit www.rowett.ac.uk/edu_web/index.html for LOTS more educational resources and FUN things to do.