There are lots of potions in the Harry Potter series. This activity doesn’t connect to any specific one, but it is fun and very potion like. We are going to cross-link polymers to form a stretchy, slimy, potion.
Polymers are long chemical chains and cross-linking is essentially when they get all tangled up with each other. In this activity, we will get our polymer from glue, which contains polyvinyl acetate ((C4H6O2)n). And, we’ll get our cross-linking from chemical bonding that occurs when we add Borax. Borax contains sodium borate (Na2[B4O5(OH)4].8H2O) which can interact with the polyvinyl acetate polymer. Before we add the borax, the polymer strands from the glue can move around without getting tangled or stuck to each other. The sodium borate, though, can link to the polymer chains. Each molecule of sodium borate can interact with more than one polymer strand at a time, so everything starts to get all tangled up when we add these together – giving us this fun and slimy potion.
Here’s what to do:
- Collect your supplies
- Borax
- Glue
- Water
- Cup or bowl and spoon
- Optional: food coloring, glitter, etc.
- Prepare two mixtures
- Mixture 1: ¼ c water and ⅛ tsp Borax
- Mixture 2: ¼ c water and ¼ c glue
- Optional: Add food coloring, glitter, etc. to Mixture 2
- Stir each mixture well.
- Pour Mixture 1 into Mixture 2. Stir and knead until you get a smooth slime consistency.
Watch here:
Science for Wizards 