Dilatant Fluids: Deriving Formulas for Experiments

[Nimitz]

Homework Statement

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution

I'm not using the given template because I have a question to ask, to which I do not know the answer...

So;
My teacher gave me an assignment where we had to do an interesting and exciting experiment for some small kids, and afterwards derive the formulas important in the experiment we did (alone for the teacher).
Doing a funny experiment with dilatant fluids is obviously not a problem, but I have almost no idea how one would derive the formulas which would appear in such a context (also because I don't even know which formulas I should try to derive in the first place!).

Wikipedia (specifically the german one) gives me some hints, but it isn't enough.

Anybody maybe have some special knowledge on this?



If this is an incorrect form for opening a new thread please be so kind and tell me what I should do different...

 

[Chi Meson]

My teacher gave me an assignment where we had to do an interesting and exciting experiment for some small kids, and afterwards derive the formulas important in the experiment we did (alone for the teacher).
Doing a funny experiment with dilatant fluids is obviously not a problem, but I have almost no idea how one would derive the formulas which would appear in such a context (also because I don't even know which formulas I should try to derive in the first place!).

So, you are preparing a demonstration for kids, featuring non-Newtonian fluids (corn starch, I assume), and will be deriving formulas afterward? The demonstrations are fun and varied, but the mathematical formulas involved are advanced calculus ("differential equations," if I recall correctly). The general notion, I'm sure you already have got: the more you increase the stress (force per unit area), the greater the viscosity. The concept is fun, and the general idea can be explained to kids, but it would be a waste of your effort to expect these kids to appreciate the formulas. See if it is "OK enough" to stick to the proportionality of stress (force) with viscosity (thickness).

Make sure you do the demo of corn starch on a subwoofer; see if your teacher has a good function generator.

 

[Nimitz]

So, you are preparing a demonstration for kids, featuring non-Newtonian fluids (corn starch, I assume), and will be deriving formulas afterward? The demonstrations are fun and varied, but the mathematical formulas involved are advanced calculus ("differential equations," if I recall correctly). The general notion, I'm sure you already have got: the more you increase the stress (force per unit area), the greater the viscosity. The concept is fun, and the general idea can be explained to kids, but it would be a waste of your effort to expect these kids to appreciate the formulas. See if it is "OK enough" to stick to the proportionality of stress (force) with viscosity (thickness).

Make sure you do the demo of corn starch on a subwoofer; see if your teacher has a good function generator.

No the presentation of the experiment and the derivation of the formulas is done separately.The kids only get to see the experiment, the teacher sees both the experiment and then later my presentation about how to derive the formulas (with no kids around at that point).

I wish I'd have to do it for the kids, then I could be allowed to simplify it, as it is now though there's no way I can wiggle myself through like that...