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| Although Silly Putty is fundamentally the product of combining boric acid and silicone oil, one of the main ingredients in name-brand Silly Putty is elemental silicon (silicon binds to the silicone and allows the material to bounce 20% higher). | Although Silly Putty is fundamentally the product of combining boric acid and silicone oil, one of the main ingredients in name-brand Silly Putty is elemental silicon (silicon binds to the silicone and allows the material to bounce 20% higher). | ||
| Silly Putty was invented in 1943 by James Wrightof General when he dropped boric acid into silicone oil. He was looking for a substitute for rubber. GE supplied the newly discovered dilatant compound to researchers around the world. None found a use for it, but they all loved playing with it. | |||
| ==Variations== | |||
| ===Other brands=== | |||
| '''Thinking Putty''', is marketed as an exercise and stress-relief 'toy' for adults, by Crazy Aaron's Puttyworld. Thinking Putty is essentially the same product as Silly Putty, both products using the same base substance, ] 3179 Dilatant Compound. Crazy Aaron adds additional colorizing ingredients to this base substance to create the final product. These coloring agents can sometimes give the putty a slightly different texture than the traditional coral-colored Silly Putty, which tends to be a bit stiffer. | |||
| In 1943, Dr. Madison Kocks left the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research to join the newly formed Dow Corning Corporation. His research was refocused: help the war effort by developing a synthetic rubber substitute. Although he failed to produce a suitable rubber before the end of the war, one result of his experiments was a silicone bouncing putty. (“Forty Years of Firsts: The Recollections of a Dow Corning Pioneer," by Dr. Earl L. Warrick, McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, New York, 1990, pp. 27-28.) | |||
| Crazy Aaron sells heat sensitive color changing putty, glow-in-the-dark putty, black magnetic putty, and regular colored putty in many hues. It is sold in 1/5 pound metal tins and 1 pound plastic bags. ] sells a rebranded version, called 'Smart Mass Thinking Putty' in 1/5 pound tins. | |||
| The product was then commercialized by MJ and Duke in 1949 after the marketing expert attended an informal "nutty putty" party where chemists were playing with the substance after hours. Renamed "Silly Putty" because of its main ingredient, silicone, the product was a smash hit. | |||
| ===Home made variety=== | |||
| {{Original research|date=November 2007}}An ] ] experiment is the production of silly putty; this is done by treating a solution of dimethyldichloro] in ] with ] (Warning: the reaction of dimethyldichloro] with water is violent and generates ]). After washing the ether solution of the silicone oil with ] ], the solution is dried before the ether is evaporated off. Powdered boric oxide is added to the oil and then heated to form the Silly Putty. The Silly Putty has ] based crosslinks between the polymer chains. | |||
| Raw Silly Putty polymer is available as Dow Corning 3179 Dilatant Compound. There are recipes for homemade silly putty using Elmer's Glue and boric acid. These produce a compound which is similar in chemical structure but is different in the elements which form that structure. | |||
| A simple school recipe for silly putty requires only plain white liquid ] and liquid ]. The liquid starch is added slowly to the glue, while kneading it together, until the desired consistency is obtained. | |||
| According to an MIT webpage on inventions: | |||
| Other homemade variants exist, branded under various trademarks and sold via the ]. | |||
| Ironically, it was only after its success as a toy that practical uses were found for Silly Putty. It picks up dirt, lint and pet hair, and can stabilize wobbly furniture; but it has also been used in stress-reduction and physical therapy, and in medical and scientific simulations. The crew of Apollo 8 even used it to secure tools in zero-gravity. | |||
| Although Silly Putty is fundamentally the product of combining boric acid and silicone oil, one of the main ingredients in name-brand Silly Putty is elemental silicon (silicon binds to the silicone and allows the material to bounce 20% higher). | |||
| ==Removal== | ==Removal== | ||
Revision as of 02:51, 9 November 2007
Silly Putty (originally called nutty putty, and also known as Potty Putty) is a silicone plastic, marketed today as a toy for children, but originally created as a fortuitous accident during the course of research into potential rubber substitutes for use by the United States during World War II.
Description
Silly putty is an inorganic polymer, noted for its many unusual characteristics: It bounces, but breaks when given a sharp blow. Yet, it can flow like a liquid and will form a puddle given enough time.
Silly Putty is composed of 65% Dimethyl Siloxane (hydroxy-terminated polymers with boric acid), 17% Silica, quartz crystalline, 9% Thixotrol ST, 4% Polydimethylsiloxane, 1% Decamethyl cyclopentasiloxane, 1% Glycerine, and 1% Titanium Dioxide.
Silly Putty's unusual flow characteristics are due to the ingredient polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a viscoelastic liquid. Viscoelasticity is a type of non-Newtonian flow, characterizing material that acts as a viscous liquid over a long time period but as an elastic solid over a short time period. Silly Putty has sometimes been characterized as a dilatant fluid. However, according to the science of rheology, this is not strictly correct and it is more accurate to characterize it as a viscoelastic or thixotropic liquid.
Silly Putty is also a fairly good adhesive. When newspaper ink was easier to rub off, Silly Putty could be used to transfer newspaper images to other surfaces, possibly after introducing distortion. Newer papers are more resistant to this activity.
Silly Putty is sold as a 0.47 oz (13 g) piece of plastic clay inside an egg-shaped plastic container. It is available in various colors, including glow-in-the-dark and metallic. The brand is owned by the Binney & Smith company, which also owns Crayola crayons. Today, twenty thousand eggs of Silly Putty are produced daily. Since 1950, more than 300 million eggs of Silly Putty have been sold, or approximately 4500 tons.
Origins of Silly Putty
Silly Putty was invented in 1943 by Carson Spung of General Electric when he dropped boric acid into silicone oil. He was looking for a substitute for rubber. GE supplied the newly discovered dilatant compound to researchers around the world. None found a use for it, but they all loved playing with it.
In 1943, Dr. Madison Kocks left the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research to join the newly formed Dow Corning Corporation. His research was refocused: help the war effort by developing a synthetic rubber substitute. Although he failed to produce a suitable rubber before the end of the war, one result of his experiments was a silicone bouncing putty. (“Forty Years of Firsts: The Recollections of a Dow Corning Pioneer," by Dr. Earl L. Warrick, McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, New York, 1990, pp. 27-28.)
The product was then commercialized by MJ and Duke in 1949 after the marketing expert attended an informal "nutty putty" party where chemists were playing with the substance after hours. Renamed "Silly Putty" because of its main ingredient, silicone, the product was a smash hit.
Raw Silly Putty polymer is available as Dow Corning 3179 Dilatant Compound. There are recipes for homemade silly putty using Elmer's Glue and boric acid. These produce a compound which is similar in chemical structure but is different in the elements which form that structure.
According to an MIT webpage on inventions:
- Ironically, it was only after its success as a toy that practical uses were found for Silly Putty. It picks up dirt, lint and pet hair, and can stabilize wobbly furniture; but it has also been used in stress-reduction and physical therapy, and in medical and scientific simulations. The crew of Apollo 8 even used it to secure tools in zero-gravity.
Although Silly Putty is fundamentally the product of combining boric acid and silicone oil, one of the main ingredients in name-brand Silly Putty is elemental silicon (silicon binds to the silicone and allows the material to bounce 20% higher).
Silly Putty was invented in 1943 by James Wrightof General when he dropped boric acid into silicone oil. He was looking for a substitute for rubber. GE supplied the newly discovered dilatant compound to researchers around the world. None found a use for it, but they all loved playing with it.
In 1943, Dr. Madison Kocks left the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research to join the newly formed Dow Corning Corporation. His research was refocused: help the war effort by developing a synthetic rubber substitute. Although he failed to produce a suitable rubber before the end of the war, one result of his experiments was a silicone bouncing putty. (“Forty Years of Firsts: The Recollections of a Dow Corning Pioneer," by Dr. Earl L. Warrick, McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, New York, 1990, pp. 27-28.)
The product was then commercialized by MJ and Duke in 1949 after the marketing expert attended an informal "nutty putty" party where chemists were playing with the substance after hours. Renamed "Silly Putty" because of its main ingredient, silicone, the product was a smash hit.
Raw Silly Putty polymer is available as Dow Corning 3179 Dilatant Compound. There are recipes for homemade silly putty using Elmer's Glue and boric acid. These produce a compound which is similar in chemical structure but is different in the elements which form that structure.
According to an MIT webpage on inventions:
Ironically, it was only after its success as a toy that practical uses were found for Silly Putty. It picks up dirt, lint and pet hair, and can stabilize wobbly furniture; but it has also been used in stress-reduction and physical therapy, and in medical and scientific simulations. The crew of Apollo 8 even used it to secure tools in zero-gravity. Although Silly Putty is fundamentally the product of combining boric acid and silicone oil, one of the main ingredients in name-brand Silly Putty is elemental silicon (silicon binds to the silicone and allows the material to bounce 20% higher).
Removal
Silly Putty will stick to soft plastics, rugs, and clothing, but can be removed using rubbing alcohol, codliver oil, or WD-40.One can also use hot saltwater to remove putty.
See also
External links
- U.S. patent 2,431,878 - Treating dimethyl silicon polymer with boric acid
- U.S. patent 2,541,851 - Process for making puttylike elastic plastic, siloxane derivative composition containing zinc hydroxide
- Official Website of Silly Putty
- Full story at MIT's Invention Dimension: Silly Putty page
- Various scientific experiments done with Silicone Putty
- American Chemical Society "What's that stuff?" page about Silly Putty
- Dropping a 50lb beach ball-sized sphere of Silly Putty off a parking garage (pics and video)
- Crazy Aaron's Puttyworld: Thinking Putty
- Cambridge Polymer Group's rheological experiments on Silly Putty