Physics of Silly Putty: Asymptote and Time Elapsed

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the behavior of silly putty as it flattens over time, specifically addressing whether it continues to flatten indefinitely or reaches an asymptote. User steiney confirms that there is indeed an asymptote, which occurs when the surface tension of the silly putty balances the other forces acting on it. This phenomenon is similar to how water behaves when spilled on a surface, as it does not become infinitely thin. The consensus is that silly putty will not significantly change in thickness after approximately 24 to 48 hours.

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steiney
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Hello All!

This is my first time posting here. I just had a physics question, googled and found this forum and figure it would be a good place to ask.

I recently was given a piece of silly putty and left it out on the table, and of course over 24 hours or so, it flattened out into a disc with a convex bubble shape to it.

My question is: Does the silly putty keep flattening out infinitely as time elapses or is there some asymptote that is reached? And, if an asymptote is reached, at one point would you speculate it would be reached?

Any ideas or thoughts are appreciated!

Thanks,

steiney
 
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There is an asmptote, it is the point when the surface tension balances all the other forces. Observe what happens to water when you spill it on the table - it doesn't get infinitely thin.

Silly putty is this type of material:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscoelasticity
 
Yeah, that makes sense. I guess it probably doesn't get too much thinner after 24-48 hours. Thanks for the wiki link. Wikipedia is awesome!
 

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