Making Slime

For a fun experiment, try making slime. It is an awesome, oozing sensory experience.

Remember Slimer from the movie Ghostbusters? He was a ghost made up of pure Ectoplasm and the first ghost successfully captured by the Ghostbusters. Slimer is well known for his gigantic appetite and the slime left behind when he passed through solid objects, thus the phrase, “You’ve been slimed.”

“Getting slimed can knock you off course…”

When you get slimed, it knocks you off course a bit by the impact. You might feel disoriented, a little lost. This is what we experience when we are mistreated by someone we trust. However, we don’t have to stay covered in slime. We can refocus and recalculate.

Science Lesson

Making slime is fun, but is it a liquid or solid? Scientifically, slime is a non-Newtonian fluid, meaning it’s a little bit of both. It can be picked up like a solid, but it also oozes like a liquid. It can even bounce like a ball because of its elasticity.

What’s the science behind the slime? An activator combines with the PVA (polyvinyl-acetate) in glue to form this cool stretchy substance. You have several activators to choose from (all in the boron family). These include saline solution, liquid starch, and Borax powder. They all contain similar chemicals. 

Glue is a polymer and is made up of long, repeating, and identical strands or molecules. These molecules flow past one another keeping the glue in a liquid state. When you add the borate ions to the mixture, it starts to connect these long strands together. They begin to tangle and mix until the substance is less like the liquid you started with, and thick and stretchy like slime.

Glitter Glue Slime

Glitter glue slime is my favorite. There are many slime recipes, but this one is easy to make, plus the color and glitter are already mixed in. If you are looking for less mess, this recipe is perfect. Of course there is always some mess with slime.

Ingredients 

• 1/4 tsp Borax powder {found in the laundry detergent aisle}
• 1/2 cup glitter glue
• 1 cup of water
• Bowl, spoon, measuring cups

Procedure

1. Dissolve 1/4 teaspoon of Borax powder into 1/2 cup of warm water. Mix thoroughly.
2. In a separate bowl, mix a 1/2 cup of glitter glue with 1/2 cup of water.
3. Pour the Borax mixture into the glue mixture and stir. You will see it come together right away. It will seem stringy and clumpy, at first. 
4. Remove it from the bowl and knead the mixture, until it is smooth and stretchy. 

Remember, slime does not like to be pulled quickly and will snap due to its chemical composition. Stretch your slime slowly and you will really see it’s full stretchiness.

Making slime is a fun chemistry experiment. Getting slimed can knock you off course, but, remember, you can refocus and recalculate to get back on track.

“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

— John 8:36, NKJV

Copyright © 2023 Chuck Locklear

Also, see Oobleck and Faith.