Stay-at-home science project: Two-ingredient Silly Putty
Look at that beautiful blob. (Purbita Saha/)Welcome to PopSci’s at-home science projects series. On weekdays at noon, we’ll be posting new projects that use ingredients you can buy at the grocery store. Show us how it went by tagging your project on social media using #popsciprojects.Silly Putty is a toy most anyone can appreciate. Pinch it, bounce it, stretch it, slap it on the side of your face—it does whatever you want it to do, with little complaint.But the chemical properties that make Silly Putty so bendy and durable are shockingly complex, as are its ingredients. The list is long and includes tongue twister-like names like polydimethylsiloxane and boric acid. Sounds tough to replicate at home. Or is it?This experiment lets you turn two common goods (cornstarch and dish soap) into endless hours of non-Newtonian fun.StatsTime: 5 minutesDifficult: easyWhat you’ll needYou might need to tweak the balance of dish soap...