Making slime with iron powder into a magnetic fluid, and enjoy its movement.

powder of triiron tetraoxide, powder of borax, laundry starch (with PVA), two beakers , a glass rod, a neodymium magnet (rare earth magnet), a pan

• Put the powder of borax in a beaker, and add the boiling water into the beaker to make saturated liquid of borax.
• Put the laundry starch (with PVA) in the other beaker to a quarter of the beaker, add the same quantity of water into the beaker, and add the powder of triiron tetraoxide. Mix them together using a glass rod.
• Warm the beaker containing PVA in hot water with a pan.
• Warm it to 65C, and take the beaker out of the hot water. Put the saturated liquid of borax into the PVA beaker, and mix them hardly to make slime.
• It become slime in a few minutes. Take it out of beaker, and knead it on your hand.
• Put it on the table, and bring a neodymium magnet near tha slime.

Warming the PVA	Mixing PVA with borax

The slime will be atrracted to the magnet, as if it were living and it would eat the magnet.

Bringing the magnet near the slime.	The slime is attracted.	As if the slime eat the magnet.

Making slime is offen done in many primary schools as a interesting experiment. Why do the PVA become the slime? It is explained that the bridge formation is made in the PVA molecule by the borax.

Who put the iron powder in the slime and made it magnetic slim at the first time, are Mr. Shinichi Yamamoto, a teacher of Toyama Highschool in Tokyo, Mr. Junichi Kodera, a teacher of Kobanei-kita Highschool in Tokyo, and Mr. Takumi Yoshida, a teacher of Notsuda Highschool in Tokyo. I was tought this expereiment from them, and adviced by Mr. Masatoshi Sakrai. I give special thanks for them.