When cornstarch water is deformed quickly, it behaves like a solid. This series of images shows a hammer pulling a nail out of the mixture.
| Photo Credit: A. Baumgarten, K. Kamrin, and J. Bales/MIT
If you mix cornstarch and water, you will have a substance that defies common sense. If you punch it with your first, it will feel like you hit a solid wall. But if you move your finger through it slowly, the substance will flow like honey. And scientists have long struggled to understand how this transition happens.
A new study in Physical Review Letters has figured it out using high-speed photography and direct force measurements. The authors, from the University of Minnesota, reported that at an extreme speed, the cornstarch mixture behaves like a liquid first before becoming tougher.
Published – April 08, 2026 01:30 pm IST
