Do you have that sinking feeling?

Quicksand is used a lot in movies that you see on TV. However, do you actually believe that it can pull anything down? Let's find out with this fun and easy experiment.

What you will need:

- one cup of maize cornflour
- half a cup of water
- a large plastic container
- a spoon

Please, do not try to do this in the classroom. If accidentally knocked over, there could be a hard day's work involved in just cleaning it up! The first step is very simple, just mix the cornflour and water thoroughly and your quicksand is made, but wait, here comes the fun part. Stir the mixture slowly and drip the quicksand, just so everyone knows it is a liquid.

If you stir it quickly, it will become hard which means that you can poke it, but try to poke it quickly, not hard. Maybe afterwards you should see if a small ball or something can be sucked down. Although, I can't guarantee anything. Remember to always stir instant quicksand before using it.

Did it work?

If you add just the right amount of water to the cornflour it becomes very thick, if you stir it quickly! This is because the cornflour grains are mixed up, and they can't slide over each other. Stirring slowly allows more water in between the cornflour grains, which makes it easier for them to slide over one another.

Remember, this is an outside activity, unless you want to be cleaning up all day!

Experiment written by SK.