Chemistry-Inquiring, designing and evaluating scientific investigation B and C criteria

How do different amounts of borax in slime affect its elasticity?

Andrej Ivanic 1b

NOTE: Nastavnice, meni se rad očigledno nije postavio kad je trebao. Upravo sam otišao na managebac
da proverim da li ste pregledali i upisali ocene, ali video sam da mi nema rada. Zaista ne znam šta se
dogodilo, ali ja sam svoj rad uradio na vreme, i kolko se secam postavio. Stvarno se izvinjavam i nadam
se da necete zameriti.

Info

The slimes we made are examples of non-Newtonian fluids. Sir Isaac Newton said that fluids have a
constant viscosity, or resistance to flow, that is only affected by temperature; examples include water
and oil. However, we later discovered many fluids in which the viscosity changes due to applied stress,
like squeezing, and since these fluids don’t follow Newton’s rule, they were named non-Newtonian fluids.

Justification

Chemical and physical properties provide evidence of the relationships both between and within atoms.

In this experiment, I will be creating slime. This experiment is a relatively easy experiment for chemistry
beginners which can be fun and informative. During my experiment, I will create two exact same slimes,
with just the different amounts of borax, so we can see how the borax influences the structure, but most
importantly elasticity of the slime.

Hypothesis

If I increase the amount of borax in the slime, while keeping everything else the same, then the slime
will become harder and rough, therefore reducing its elasticity, because when borax is dissolved in
water, it forms borate ions. Mixing that mixture with the glue mixture introduces those borate ions,
which cross-link with the polymer in the glue and trap the water. This means that the more borax is
added, the harder and less runny the slime will become.

Independent Variable – The independent variable, or the one I will be changing is going to be the
amount of borax powder I will add into the water, and then the mixture. For the first slime, I will put less
(1 tablespoon), and in the second I will put more (2 tablespoons) of the powder. I will also make a third
slime with 0 tsp as a control.

Dependent Variable – The variable I will be measuring here, is the elasticity of the slimes, or in other
words, how much can they be stretched (cm). I will measure this with a meter.

Controlled Variable – The things that will remain constant in both slimes, are the amount of glue and
water that is added to the mixtures. Also, some other things that may not have as much of a significant
influence that will be the same are room temperature and equipment used. It is important to keep these
all the same so we can get fair and correct results for our experiment.
Method

Step Description
1. First, three plastic cups were filled with 1/2 cup of warm water. (if wanted, label the cups)
2. Next add the amounts of borax mentioned in two of the cups (in the first none is added).
3. In a separate bowl, mix together 3 cups of water and 3 cups of Elmer’s glue.
4. Now add one cup of that mixture into all three cups.
5. Knead each mixture for 5 minutes (preferably with gloves).
6. Now stretch each slime to the point where it is 1cm wide, or until it breaks.
7. Lastly, measure the length of each slime with a meter and note the results.

Experimental setup

Materials

Quantity Materials
Enough for 6 cups water
Enough for 3 cups Elmer’s glue
Enough for 2 cups (3 tsp) borax
One pair gloves
one 3m meter
one Mixing bowl
9 cups

Control group

Treated: water, glue

Untreated: meter, gloves, cups, bowl

Safety concerns

There are not any massive danger or potentially harmful parts in this experiment. The only thing you
could worry about is not making a mess, as slime, glue and such can be sticky and hard to clean. So make
a clear surface area.
Process and Raw data

Above you can see two pictures from the experiment. First of all, I took three samples in this
experiment. Sample A (0 tsp of borax), sample B (1 tsp of borax), and sample C (2 tsp of borax). On the
left picture you can see sample C, which was unable to stretch enough, and just kept on breaking, while
on the right you can see sample B, which is stretched very much and shows clear sign of a slime.

Now below you will see a table of my results. Each sample was measured how much they stretched in
length until reaching 1cm width or breaking apart. I measured each sample 3 times, to be sure of my
result. The way I did this was by stretching, and that kneading it all together again, then I stretched it
again. I repeat this three times for each sample.

Table: Elasticity of mixtures (cm)

Sample A (0 tsp of borax) B (1 tsp of borax) C (2 tsp of borax)

Trial 1 (cm) 0 76 0
Trial 2 (cm) 0 69 0
Trial 3 (cm) 0 68 0

First of all, in the control sample, which had 0 tsp of borax, we weren’t able to stretch it at all as it still
was in a liquid state, just a mixture of glue and water. Now as we can see, when adding 1 tsp, it got a
very good structure, and really became a slime. During the three slimes, it had an average elasticity
stretch of 71 cm. Now, it gets interesting as when adding 2 tsp, it could barely stretch any more than
from its starting position, and that’s why I labeled it as 0. The second table spoon made it too hard,
losing that slimy structure, so therefore whenever trying to stretch it, it kept breaking apart.
Visual data

Here is the graph presenting our information that we just explained. The elasticity is used as an average
of three trial, therefore in sample B it is 71cm while in the other two is 0cm.

Conclusion and Validity

As we can see, my hypothesis is correct. This was expected as my hypothesis was supported by evidence
and scientific facts. Adding more borax did change the structure, and of course the elasticity of the
slime. The more borax was added, the harder and less runny the slime became. When adding the 2 tsp,
it started losing the slime effect, therefore we can also conclude that if we added even more borax, we
would eventually probably lose any signs of the mixture being a slime. Another thing that we saw, in our
first sample, the control, is that without borax, using only glue and water, we could not make a slime,
and that borax is an essential part in making a slime if we chose this way. This experiment answers my
research question, and in fact proves that borax does influence the structure and elasticity of a slime.

My method was indeed valid, as it answered my researched question and proved my hypothesis, while
also being simple enough for us not to encounter any obstacles or problems. The only limitation and
thing I would improve is to next time make more sample, in which there will be a smaller difference
between them. In this experiment we only proved that borax does influence the slime, but if I used
more samples such as for example ½ tsp and such, we would also be able to find the perfect amount of
borax so that we have the largest elasticity. But this isn’t a major problem as this wasn’t my research
question.
References

Line graph maker. Line Graph Maker | Create a line chart. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2022, from
https://www.rapidtables.com/tools/line-graph.html

The science of slime - it's way more than polymers. Feels Like Home™. (2022, May 23). Retrieved May 29,
2022, from https://feelslikehomeblog.com/the-science-of-slime-its-way-more-than-polymers/

Karen, Good, Marsh, M., Littlebins, Teri, Sarit, Lisa, Chiasson, T., Yvooon, yeates, P., Hanna, Unknown,
Carysiana, Nookies, Violet, Emily, Denise, Isabel, Ciana, … Easy To Make St Patrick's Day Green
Slime | Little Bins for Little Hands says: (2021, October 5). Borax Slime for an easy slime activity.
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