Key Concepts
Polymers, silicone

Introduction

Kinetic or Magic Sand is easy to find in stores, and fun to play with at home! But did you ever wonder what’s so magical about magic sand? You shouldn’t be surprised to hear that the magic is actually science! You can create your own version of this fun mixture with just a few kitchen ingredients. Get out your magic wand and get ready for some science!

This activity is not appropriate for use as a science fair project. Good science fair projects have a stronger focus on controlling variables, taking accurate measurements, and analyzing data. To find a science fair project that is just right for you, browse our library of over 1,200 Science Fair Project Ideas or use the Topic Selection Wizard to get a personalized project recommendation.

Background

Kinetic or Magic sand is actually just regular sand, with one important ingredient added – silicone oil. Silicone is a term used to refer to a group of materials that contain the elements silicon and oxygen. Silicones are polymers, or molecules made up of long chains of repeated units. Silicones are used in everything from your hand lotion to your car engine oil – they’re all around us! The reason we use silicones so prolifically is because they have some very unique properties, including that they can behave as liquids, semisolids, and rubbery solids, depending on the pressure you add. This property is known as ‘viscoelasticity’. The degree of viscoelasticity depends on how long the polymer chains are in the silicone oil. Longer chains of polymers tend to hold their shape more effectively than shorter chains.

In this activity you’ll be exploring the power of polymers by creating and experimenting with your own kinetic dough.

Materials

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2-3 tablespoons cooking oil
  • 2 bowls
  • A fork
  • Oil or gel-based food coloring (optional)

Procedure

  1. Measure 1 cup of flour into each bowl. Set them side by side so you can make comparisons as you work.
  2. If using food coloring, add a few drops to your cooking oil and mix.
  3. Slowly add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil to one bowl of flour. Use your fork to mix the oil into the flour, until the oil is no longer visible and there are no big clumps of flour.
  4. Again, slowly add a 2nd tablespoon of cooking oil to the same bowl of flour. Use your fork to mix the oil into the flour, until the oil is no longer visible and there are no big clumps of flour. Use your fingers to blend the flour and oil together. What do you notice about the texture of the flour? Does it stick together? What if you squeeze the flour in your fist?
  5. If the flour does not old a shape when squeezed, slowly add ½ a tablespoon of oil, mix and test your flour again. If it still doesn’t hold a shape, add the remaining oil. Don’t add too much oil! The dough should be dry to the touch. Once the flour is able to hold a shape when squeezed, you have your kinetic dough!
  6. Put your hands in the oil-free flour. Try to mold a shape in the flour by squeezing the it in your fist.  What does the flour feel like? Does it hold a shape when you squeeze it? How quickly does it fall apart? Does the flour stick to your hands and the bowl?
  7. Rinse your hands with water and dry them thoroughly. Repeat step 6 with the kinetic dough. How does the kinetic dough mixture differ from the flour alone? Can you form shapes with the dough? Do you notice that it sticks more or less to your hands than the flour alone?

Extra: With an adult’s help, try molding the kinetic dough into shapes and then slicing it with a knife. Experiment with clay molds or ice cube trays, and see how well you can get your dough to hold its shape.

Observations and Results

In this activity you experimented with adding oil to flour and observed how this simple ingredient changes the behavior of the flour. In doing so, you also created your own ‘kinetic dough’. This is similar to commercial products like Kinetic Sand or Magic Sand. What is special about all of these substances is the addition of the oil. The Kinetic or Magic sand you buy at the store is just regular sand that's been coated with silicone oil. In this activity the cooking oil you added is a polymer just like silicone oil, and it behaves the same way.

With your kinetic dough, the polymer chains in the oil you added made the flour particles stick together so you can form them into a ball. However, the ball will slowly flatten out over time. In contrast to the flour by itself, you should have found that you could form shapes with the kinetic dough, and they would stay together fairly well. You should also have noticed that the oil and flour mixture stuck best to itself, and not as well to other surfaces. This is because the oil polymers like to grab onto each other more than they like to grab onto things like the countertop. As a result, it should have felt less sticky and easier to clean up.

More to Explore

Credits

Megan Arnett, PhD, Science Buddies

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Key Concepts
Polymers, silicone
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