Quicksand

[deleted-189826]

For my science fair project, I want to find out how to escape quicksand. First, using a substitute for quicksand, (Oobleck which is made by cornstarch and water), I will fill equal amounts of Oobleck into a clear jar. Then, I will take some miniature human-like figures or something else and coat them with different substances. I want to find out what figure coated with which substance will stay up the longest. I also want to know a bit about the science behind this. What substances should I use? WD-40, vinegar, oil etc.?What should the figures be made by? Should I use pennies, marbles,etc? What else can I do to improve this experiment? Can there be more variables?Please give me some advice.

[deleted-48245]

There is some information of oobleck here https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p031.shtml. What figures you put in the quicksand shouldn't matter as long as you use identical figures for all of your conditions. I can't really think of any specific substances to try. They only thing I can find is that it is greatly affected by static electricity, but that's not really a substance you could use. It's still worth looking into, though. Besides substances, you could also chose to experiment with things like the mass of your figure (a large marble vs a smaller one) or how much water you mix with the cornstarch.
Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions.
Katie

[deleted-189826]

Thankyou for answering
Should I add other variables? What else should I do to expand my project?

[deleted-189826]

I am doing a project on how to escape quicksand. In order to conduct this experiment, I will make a substitute for quicksand, Oobleck. It consists of cornstarch and water and acts similarly to quicksand.( What else can I try?)

What I want to find out is the easiest solution to staying up. I will take figures(What should they be made out of? What shape should they be?) and coat them with different substances (What substances should I use?) Then I will see how long it takes each to reach the bottom.(What will happen will human force?) HOw can I expand this experiment and make it better? Is there any way to get rid of quicksand?Please give me some advice
Thank you

[deleted-176807]

I would pick one variable to change (your independent variable), see how if affects another variable that is easy to measure (you dependent variable), then hold everything else constant (controls). You might want to look at this if you haven't already https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... evariables. Especially since your project is due on Tuesday, I would focus on doing as many trials as possible with a single independent variable rather than doing separate experiments with different variables.
Good Luck!