Quicksand Fans

I have a 55 gal trash can I want to fill with cornstarch and water. I know the ratio bit how much cornstarch should I buy?

domman00016 wrote:I have a 55 gal trash can I want to fill with cornstarch and water. I know the ratio bit how much cornstarch should I buy?

I do not know the answer to your question, but it should be easy enough to determine it by means of a smaller-scale experiment. Try making a gallon or two first. If you make two gallons to the consistency you want just multiply the amount of cornstarch by 27.5 and that's how much you need. This is essentially an algebra 1 word problem.

domman00016 wrote:I have a 55 gal trash can I want to fill with cornstarch and water. I know the ratio bit how much cornstarch should I buy?

What Fred said because there is no specific ratio. It will vary greatly depending on what consistency you desire, the quality of the corn starch, how able you are at mixing it, and even the relative humidity. All you can do is take a small amount and experiment to determine. If this is a plastic trash can I can promise this much - If you don't have a catastrophic failure of the can you will definitely have an ungodly foul smelling mess that you will be unable to move after two or three days. If you do have a catastrophic failure of the can you will still have an ungodly foul smelling mess you can't move. The useful life of standard oobleck is brief. Choose your location wisely.

Duncan Edwards wrote:

domman00016 wrote:I have a 55 gal trash can I want to fill with cornstarch and water. I know the ratio bit how much cornstarch should I buy?

What Fred said because there is no specific ratio. It will vary greatly depending on what consistency you desire, the quality of the corn starch, how able you are at mixing it, and even the relative humidity. All you can do is take a small amount and experiment to determine. If this is a plastic trash can I can promise this much - If you don't have a catastrophic failure of the can you will definitely have an ungodly foul smelling mess that you will be unable to move after two or three days. If you do have a catastrophic failure of the can you will still have an ungodly foul smelling mess you can't move. The useful life of standard oobleck is brief. Choose your location wisely.

Yeah I have a good plan. Luckily I own a backhoe so the can is going in the ground and should be able to lift it out when that shift gets gross

domman00016 wrote:

Duncan Edwards wrote:

domman00016 wrote:I have a 55 gal trash can I want to fill with cornstarch and water. I know the ratio bit how much cornstarch should I buy?

What Fred said because there is no specific ratio. It will vary greatly depending on what consistency you desire, the quality of the corn starch, how able you are at mixing it, and even the relative humidity. All you can do is take a small amount and experiment to determine. If this is a plastic trash can I can promise this much - If you don't have a catastrophic failure of the can you will definitely have an ungodly foul smelling mess that you will be unable to move after two or three days. If you do have a catastrophic failure of the can you will still have an ungodly foul smelling mess you can't move. The useful life of standard oobleck is brief. Choose your location wisely.

Yeah I have a good plan. Luckily I own a backhoe so the can is going in the ground and should be able to lift it out when that shift gets gross

After three or four days, depending on weather and certain factors, you will have seven or eight cubic feet of foul smelling stuff at about 50 pounds per cubic foot with the consistency of a pencil eraser. In The South it will attract butterflies, sweat bees, and yellow jackets like free sex and money. Covering it at night to keep creatures from getting stuck in it is a two edged sword. Yes you want to keep stuff out but it may also ferment under a cover and this has interesting effects. I can't see a plastic trash can handling such loads but if you are able to lift it out of the ground you will be looking to get it buried again quickly in a hole several feet deeper than what you had it in to begin with. Even then any neighbors within a hundred feet or so will wonder why you buried a trash can full of dead animals in the area. This can persist for quite a while.

Duncan Edwards wrote:

domman00016 wrote:

Duncan Edwards wrote:

domman00016 wrote:I have a 55 gal trash can I want to fill with cornstarch and water. I know the ratio bit how much cornstarch should I buy?

What Fred said because there is no specific ratio. It will vary greatly depending on what consistency you desire, the quality of the corn starch, how able you are at mixing it, and even the relative humidity. All you can do is take a small amount and experiment to determine. If this is a plastic trash can I can promise this much - If you don't have a catastrophic failure of the can you will definitely have an ungodly foul smelling mess that you will be unable to move after two or three days. If you do have a catastrophic failure of the can you will still have an ungodly foul smelling mess you can't move. The useful life of standard oobleck is brief. Choose your location wisely.

Yeah I have a good plan. Luckily I own a backhoe so the can is going in the ground and should be able to lift it out when that shift gets gross

After three or four days, depending on weather and certain factors, you will have seven or eight cubic feet of foul smelling stuff at about 50 pounds per cubic foot with the consistency of a pencil eraser. In The South it will attract butterflies, sweat bees, and yellow jackets like free sex and money. Covering it at night to keep creatures from getting stuck in it is a two edged sword. Yes you want to keep stuff out but it may also ferment under a cover and this has interesting effects. I can't see a plastic trash can handling such loads but if you are able to lift it out of the ground you will be looking to get it buried again quickly in a hole several feet deeper than what you had it in to begin with. Even then any neighbors within a hundred feet or so will wonder why you buried a trash can full of dead animals in the area. This can persist for quite a while.

It's just bot a trash can there will be many layers of tarp. I say trash can because that is the easiest way to get a good measurement of how much stuff I need. I'm also more then a mile away from anyone.

domman00016 wrote: I'm also more then a mile away from anyone.

That's good. Hope you have good access to water because you will need a lot.

Just to make it clear to anyone who might be put off by this - We are talking about regular oobleck. The enhanced performance of MPVBleck is more performer friendly.

This is not something I have tried, with corn starch. I have tried it with another organic substance and it seemed to work at least in small quantities. Try adding salt to the mixture. If that does not interfere with the thixotropy it might well suppress the delay that causes the bad smell. It works with things such as bacon!

Duncan Edwards wrote:

domman00016 wrote: I'm also more then a mile away from anyone.

That's good. Hope you have good access to water because you will need a lot.

Just to make it clear to anyone who might be put off by this - We are talking about regular oobleck. The enhanced performance of MPVBleck is more performer friendly.

What is MPVBleck made of?

domman00016 wrote:

Duncan Edwards wrote:

domman00016 wrote: I'm also more then a mile away from anyone.

That's good. Hope you have good access to water because you will need a lot.

Just to make it clear to anyone who might be put off by this - We are talking about regular oobleck. The enhanced performance of MPVBleck is more performer friendly.

What is MPVBleck made of?

That's a proprietary mixture concocted by Dave during midnight sessions at the MPV labs. It came from an accidental mixing of substances following an overturned golf cart in his bathroom. He was seen running into the woods shouting "Eureka! The flamingos know this!" He didn't return for supper but the night was wracked with the sounds of heavy machinery and explosive concussions as lightning struck all around. The next morning a search party found him furiously shoveling dirt when he turned to me with a manic grin and announced "Bring women! We have found Atlantis and the cheeseburgers are excellent!" I knew then he was on to something special.