• Question: What makes fluid dance?

    Asked by Alex to Connor, Jillian, Lidunka, Sarah, Steven on 18 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Jillian Scudder

      Jillian Scudder answered on 18 Jun 2015:

      Sometimes sound waves can do it – but it really depends on what kind of dancing you’re thinking about!

    • Photo: Steven Thomson

      Steven Thomson answered on 18 Jun 2015:

      As Jillian says, it depends precisely what you mean, but I suspect you might be thinking about a substance called a ‘non-Newtonian fluid’. You can make one of these by mixing cornflour and water – it’s a special kind of liquid that turns solid when you squeeze it. By blasting this with a sound wave, it contracts and solidifies, then liquefies when the wave passes it. Doing this repeatedly leads to a ‘dancing’ effect.

      Try looking up ‘non-Newtonian fluid’ on the internet and see if you can find a video!

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