Plasticity

After completing a lab on plasticity, it can know be understood how the mantle's characteristics change when pressure is either applied or removed. By creating a mixture of cornstarch and water, my group and I created an amorphous solid. An amorphous solid is a solid that doesn't have a definite or determined shape and form. In this case, the cornstarch and water mixture resembled the mantle of the Earth. When pressure was applied to the clay like mixture, it turned hard and looked solid. However, when you removed the pressure, the solid turned into a liquid like mixture that was still hard as before when touched. Also, when our group experimented by pushing our fingers into the mixture quickly, the hardness of the solid kept our fingers from sinking in. However, when we pushed our fingers in slowly, our fingers ended up sinking into the mixture.The lab experiment is similar to the Earth's mantle because the heat and pressure from the crust keeps the mantle solid. In the lab, the heat and pressure from our hands kept the mixture solid. However, just as the mixture showed characteristics of a liquid when the pressure and heat were removed, the mantle works the same way. If pressure and heat from the crust was to be removed, the mantle would appear to look like a liquid even though it's a solid. Therefore, the lab mixture and mantle resemble each other because they both are solids that can look like a liquid when the pressure being applied on them is removed. Both the mantle and the lab mixture have plasticity because they have the capability of receiving another characteristic that changes their appearance. In conclusion, this lab was very fun and interesting. I never knew that creating a mixture of cornstarch and water could help learn the characteristics of the Earth's mantle. This lab was very enjoyable.