{"id":9454,"date":"2026-06-18T05:45:43","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T09:45:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/?p=9454"},"modified":"2026-06-16T08:45:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T12:45:55","slug":"the-chemistry-of-slime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/?p=9454","title":{"rendered":"The Chemistry of Slime"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zeke Vanguardia ’27
\n<\/span>EE<\/em> Staff Writer<\/span><\/p>\n

Ever wondered why those \u201cSlime Recipe NO BORAX\u201d videos never truly lived up to their name, often leading to a soupy solution left next to the yogurt in your fridge? The process of making slime actually comprises a multitude of molecular interactions, which give way to the substance\u2019s distinct stretchy properties!<\/span><\/p>\n

Slime is a non-Newtonian fluid, defined by its changes in viscosity when stress is applied. In particular, it is dilatant (shear-thickening), meaning that the substance becomes more viscous when subjected to a pressure or a force. Other examples of dilatant non-Newtonian fluids include oobleck (cornstarch + water), and quicksand.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The typical slime can be easily made using two ingredients: Elmer\u2019s Magic Liquid (or activator) and liquid glue. Slime is a homogeneous mixture, meaning that the components are relatively evenly distributed and are in uniform throughout the substance; the solute is completely dissolved into the solvent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Elmer\u2019s Magical Liquid, or activator, consists of boric acid or sodium borate, as well as other chemicals which improve the solution\u2019s stability and shelf-life. The \u201cmagic\u201d of the solution itself derives from its composition of boric acid (H<\/span>3<\/span>BO<\/span>3<\/span>), a weak acid that releases borate ions (B(OH)<\/span>4<\/span>–<\/span>). Other recipes may also call for the use of borax, which when dissolved in water, releases these borate ions.\u00a0 This solution will also act as an activator for slime.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The usual store-bought liquid glue consists of polyvinyl acetate (PVA), which are synthetic polymers. PVA is typically formed through a process called addition polymerization, where monomers are linked together without the elimination of atoms or molecules during the reaction. PVA is synthesized on a carbon backbone with a hydroxyl group (-OH) on every alternating carbon, allowing for polymers to form hydrogen bonds (water soluble). The average PVA chain can have a molecular weight of over 100,000 grams per mole!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When the activator and liquid glue are mixed together, the borate ions will begin to form hydrogen bonds with the hydroxyl groups of the PVA polymers, resulting in a cross-linking reaction where two or more molecules are joined together through the formation of molecular bonds, forming a complex chemical network. These interactions cause the PVA to twist and turn, resulting in the overall properties of slime!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photo courstesy: Josh Hallett<\/a> CC BY 2.0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zeke Vanguardia ’27 EE Staff Writer Ever wondered why those \u201cSlime Recipe NO BORAX\u201d videos never truly lived up to their name, often leading to a soupy solution left next to the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":9456,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9454"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9457,"href":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9454\/revisions\/9457"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}