things get slimy at science club

In the first Year 7 Science Club session of the new half term, today Mr Parker led a workshop that helped Year 7 understand the chemistry behind slime.

Back in the 17th century, scientist Sir Isaac Newton led the way in the study of the viscosity of liquids, and how they change at different pressures and temperatures. Slime is a fluid that reacts in a special way by becoming thicker when hit quickly, or runnier when hit slowly. It is also a polymer, signifying that it is made of lengthy chains of tiny particles.

To enrich their understanding, our scientists were tasked with combining two ingredients or reactants: PVA and borate ions or borax to produce the very long polymer chain that is otherwise known as slime, and to explore the endothermic reaction between the PVA and the borax.

Another great session of fun hands-on extracurricular scientific learning, with huge thanks to Mr Parker, Mr Murray, Dr Bethell, Mrs Yarwood, Mrs Bentham and Mr Sharp for organising this wonderful lunchtime enrichment opportunity for our year 7 scientists.

Watch this space for next week's Science Club news!