Peter Hodgson, an unemployed copywriter, recognized the potential of this toy as a marketing tool for children after seeing it advertised in a local toy shop as an adult gift. War Production Board, found it more practical than the synthetic rubber which was in production then. However, none of them, not even those at the U.S. General Electric (G.E.) had already shared the discovery with scientists all over the globe by 1945. The substance didn’t have all the characteristics needed to replace rubber. It also didn’t go moldy and had a high melting point. Non-toxic Putty bounced when dropped and could stretch further than regular rubber. The two researchers discovered that silicone oil and boric acid could be combined with bouncy material. Crayola’s history still states that Wright invented it in 1943. Warrick maintained throughout his life that Rob Roy McGregor he was the first to receive Silly Putty’s patent. James Wright is a Scottish-born inventor who worked for General Electric in New Haven. The Silly Putty inventors were Earl Warrick, Harvey Chin, and James Wright. This shortage was solved by government-funded research into synthetic rubber compounds. Citizens were encouraged to ensure that their rubber products lasted and donate spare tires and boots until the end. Silly Putty was created during research into potential rubber substitutes for the United States in World War II.Īll rubber products in the United States were rationed.
Boron cross-links give it the critical property of being elastic on short-time scales and inelastic on long scales. Silly Putty is an extraordinarily complex and sophisticated molecular engineering job. Silly Putty is one of those products that many of us have played with during our childhood but little did we know that Boron is the magic ingredient that makes it work.
#Bouncy silly putty recipe zip#
Store the homemade silly putty in a zip top baggie.Silly Putty – Boron Boron and Silly Putty Stir with a spoon and then knead with hands as the mixture thickens.Pour the borax mixture into the glue and water.Mix 1 teaspoon borax with ½ cup warm water in the measuring cup.Pour the water into the mixing bowl and stir until smooth. Fill the empty glue bottle with water and shake the bottle. Empty the bottle of glue into the mixing bowl.You can make your own Silly Putty at home-or at least something similar. Bounce the ball on the same surface and from the same height as before and note how high it bounces.ĭoes temperature affect how high the Silly Putty ball bounces?.Put that same ball into the freezer for an hour.Roll Silly Putty into a ball and bounce it on a flat surface.Do this easy experiment to see how temperature changes how the Silly Putty ball bounces.
The properties of Silly Putty change with the temperature. When Silly Putty is rolled into a ball, it bounces when dropped on a smooth surface just like a rubber ball. However, when the putty is pulled apart rapidly, the hydrogen bonds break apart abruptly and the putty breaks. When the Silly Putty is stretched carefully, the hydrogen bonds break apart slowly and allow the putty to hold together. These bonds make the Silly Putty easy to roll into a ball and stick to itself. Silly Putty is made of polymers, or long chains of molecules, that are cross-linked by weak hydrogen bonds. It wasn’t until it was packaged in Easter eggs for the upcoming holiday and marketed as a children’s toy, Silly Putty, that the popularity of this accidental material took off.
Scientists tried to discover a practical application for this new substance, but could not. It could bounce, stretch, break, and flow. This new polymer was a non-newtonian fluid, meaning that it acted as both a viscous liquid and an elastic solid. The result was a new polymer with some peculiar properties. One of those engineers accidentally dropped boric acid into silicone oil. Silly Putty Historyĭuring WWII, there was a rubber shortage, so scientists and engineers were hard at work trying to create new polymers and substances that could take the place of rubber. Silly Putty is one of those classic toys that never gets old.
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