Silly Putty facts for kids
Silly Putty is a fun toy made from special silicone materials. It has some very unusual properties! You can stretch it, bounce it, or even break it. It acts like a liquid sometimes and like a solid at other times, depending on how you play with it.
Silly Putty was first made during World War II. Scientists were trying to find a new type of rubber for the United States.
The name Silly Putty is a special brand name owned by Crayola. Other companies make similar toys, but they use different names.
Contents
What is Silly Putty?
Silly Putty is famous for its unique features. It can bounce high when you drop it. But if you hit it hard or pull it fast, it will break. If you leave it alone for a while, it will slowly spread out like a puddle. It can even float in water!
The original Silly Putty was a coral color. It's mostly made of a silicone material called dimethylsiloxane. It also has tiny bits of silica (like sand) and other ingredients that help it keep its shape.
How it Moves
Silly Putty's strange way of moving comes from a main ingredient called polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). This material is "viscoelastic." This means it acts like a thick liquid over a long time. But if you quickly pull or hit it, it acts like a stretchy solid.
Imagine honey: it flows slowly. Now imagine a rubber band: it stretches and snaps back. Silly Putty can do both! If you apply force slowly, it stretches. If you apply force quickly, it resists and breaks.
Other Fun Tricks
Silly Putty can also be a good adhesive, meaning it's sticky. In the past, you could press it onto a newspaper and pick up the ink. Then you could stretch the putty to make funny, distorted pictures! Newer newspapers use different inks, so this trick doesn't work as well anymore.
If Silly Putty gets stuck on things like clothes or dirt, it can be tricky to remove. Hand sanitizers that have alcohol can often help. The alcohol makes the putty dissolve. But once the alcohol dries, the putty won't be the same anymore.
If you put Silly Putty in warm or hot water, it gets softer and melts faster. It also becomes harder to clean off surfaces. After some time, it will go back to its normal texture.
Silly Putty is usually sold in a small, egg-shaped plastic container. Each piece is about 13 grams (half an ounce). Crayola sells about 20,000 eggs of Silly Putty every day! Since 1950, over 300 million eggs have been sold. You can find it in many colors, including ones that glow in the dark or look metallic.
History of Silly Putty
During World War II, Japan took control of countries that produced rubber. Rubber was very important for making things like tires, gas masks, and boots for the war. In the US, rubber products were hard to get. The government asked scientists to find new materials to replace rubber.
Many people helped invent Silly Putty. James Wright, a scientist working for General Electric, is often given credit. He discovered it in 1943. He mixed boric acid with silicone oil. This created a bouncy, gooey material. It could stretch, wouldn't get moldy, and could handle high heat. But it wasn't perfect for replacing rubber.
In 1949, a toy store owner named Ruth Fallgatter found the putty. She worked with a marketing expert named Peter C. L. Hodgson. They decided to sell the putty in clear cases. It sold well, but Ruth didn't continue with it. Peter Hodgson, however, saw its big potential.
Hodgson borrowed money to buy a large amount of the putty. He put small pieces into plastic eggs and sold them for $1 each. He called it Silly Putty. At first, sales were slow. But then a famous magazine, The New Yorker, wrote about it. After that, Hodgson sold over 250,000 eggs in just three days!
In 1951, the Korean War caused problems for Hodgson. Silicone, a key ingredient, became hard to get. But a year later, the rules changed, and Silly Putty production started again.
Silly Putty was first sold to adults. But by 1955, most of its customers were kids aged six to twelve. In 1957, the first TV commercial for Silly Putty aired during the Howdy Doody Show, a popular children's program.
In 1961, Silly Putty became popular around the world, even in the Soviet Union and Europe. In 1968, Apollo 8 astronauts even took Silly Putty into space with them!
Peter Hodgson passed away in 1976. The next year, Binney & Smith, the company that makes Crayola products, bought Silly Putty. By 2005, over six million eggs of Silly Putty were sold each year.
Silly Putty was recognized as a very important toy. It was added to the National Toy Hall of Fame on May 28, 2001.
Other Uses for Silly Putty
Besides being a fun toy, Silly Putty has other helpful uses:
- Around the House: You can use it to pick up dirt, lint, pet hair, or even ink from surfaces.
- In Therapy: Doctors and therapists use it to help people recover from hand injuries. Different types of putty offer different levels of resistance for hand exercises. It can also help reduce stress.
- In Space: Apollo 8 astronauts used Silly Putty to hold their tools in place when they were in zero gravity.
- For Hobbies: People who build scale models use it to cover parts they don't want to paint when spray-painting.
- In Science: Scientists at the Steward Observatory use a special Silly Putty-backed tool to polish large telescope mirrors. Researchers have even found that mixing graphene with Silly Putty can create super sensitive pressure sensors. They say it can even feel a spider crawling on it!
See also
In Spanish: Silly Putty para niños
- Blu Tack
- Flubber (material)
- Slime (toy)
Images for kids
-
Silly Putty slowly flowing through a hole.
-
Silly Putty shaped into a solid cube.
-
Magnetic thinking putty, a similar material.
