Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

One of my students wants to do this project for their Science Fair. And I am okay with that. But I do have a question, as I need to get the order requisitions done for materials and I was wondering if anyone knew if it really mattered whether we used the homemade playdoh conductor and insulator or if the store bought playdoh and molding clay worked just as well as the homemade...?

Thanks in advance.

ssharrow - The ingredients of home made playdoh that allow it to be conductive are water and table salt. This provides an ionic material that will conduct an electric current. Commercial modeling clay will not conduct an electric current, and so, will act as an insulator. So, in my opinion, the home made playdoh will be fine for these experiments.

Rick Marz

Hi ssharrow - I have tested both versions of this. Rick is correct that the homemade stuff works great. I'm not sure what the exact ingredients are in store-bought Play-Doh but it turns out that it's also conductive, and store-bought modeling clay is an insulator as Rick mentioned. So it really comes down to time and money - it will take more time to make the homemade stuff, but it might be cheaper per pound.

bfinio & rmarz - Thanks for the input! I really appreciate it! We will probably stick with making the homemade versions instead.