Yes ladies and gentlemen, you can in fact walk on custard

[Detritus]

The Agitator » Blog Archive » Walking on Custard


Just a little bit of science for this afternoon.

[ZeeOne]

Math.random()

[Bizkitkid2001]

I think Richard is still best on Top Gear.

[vass0922]

seems youtube vid is dead

[Atomic Rooster]

Link worked for me.

Thanks for the cool science lesson.

[SiliconJon]

That's not quite "custard". The starch level was far to high to be edible custard - the portion in the corner tasted was likely mixed closer to "spec", otherwise they really just filled the pool up with a starch heavy solution, with just enough custard to give it color.

Fill it up with normal custard and I'm betting one would easily sink.

This does make for fantastic science play with the kids at home - mix corn starch with water. If it doesn't solidify when mixing add more starch, if it doesn't poor add more water. Once the mix is right you can ball it up in your hand so long as you continue to pack it like a snow ball, but once you let it sit in your hands it turns to ooze.

[Atomic Rooster]

That's not quite "custard". The starch level was far to high to be edible custard - the portion in the corner tasted was likely mixed closer to "spec", otherwise they really just filled the pool up with a starch heavy solution, with just enough custard to give it color.

The type of custard is important here. It needs to be cornflour based and hence starchy enough to have the qualities John expects. The custard our brainiacks are making is more "industrial' than edible. You wouldn't want this served up on your rubarb crumble.

[SiliconJon]

Not sure what pic you put there since the corp filter blocked it, but given your quote of the feature it's not at all custard if it's not edible. But so has science gone the way of the myth busters and braniaks...

That reminds me of my eigth grade teacher who went from reading how weightlessness in orbit was similar to a freefalling effect to demanding the right answer on the homework, quizes, and test was that the reason for being weightless in orbit around the earth was because the object was freefalling.

[draboo]

1. Swallow at least two little orange tablets.(aka ORANGE SUNSHINE).

2. Mix up both sinks in the bathroom of the dorm room with a mixture of cornstarch and water.

3. Play in the sink for hours.


We were amazed you could practically slug the surface of the stuff with your fist and not penetrate it. But slowly poke your finger in it and it magically melted like butter. I can imagine the fun if we could have had filling up a swimming pool with the stuff.

Another amazing phenonomen() was mixing up a jar with half of some sort of fossil fuel,like fuel oil. Then fill it up the rest of the way with colored water. Sit and rock the bottle back and forth in front of your nose for a few more hours. I could just see a swimming pool filled with THAT!!

Ahh, the 70`s...GOOD TIMES!

[Knothead]

Ahh, the 70`s...GOOD TIMES!

Ahhh, true, good days. I learned to walk on water. Wish I could remember how I did that.

When the Northridge earthquake of '92 happened, I crossed our kitchen floor barefoot, in the dark, which was covered with broken glass, four times with no injury to my feet.

So I figure custard would be pretty easy.

Plus, if you sink in EDIBLE custard, (not the cheesy stuff you're describing) well, THAT could be pretty big fun, eh?

[Rootstonian]

There was this science show on with I was younger...a physics guy. He did the cornstarch and water thing....ran his hand through it and it poured like water. Jumped into a vat of it and no splash.

And he was just nuts enough to put liquid nitrogen in his mouth...when he blew out it was a gas stream 20 feet long...very cool. He did get some blisters, but the saliva film was enough to protect him. Funniest thing he said doing this..."I must resist the urge to swallow!" ROFL