Hobbies And Interests
Origin
Silly Putty was invented by accident by a researcher at General Electric's laboratory in New Haven, Connecticut in 1943. He was experimenting with forms of synthetic rubber. He decided to sell it as a toy after not being able to find any practical use for it. It was placed on the market in 1949.
Ingredients
The formula for making Silly Putty has been the same since the beginning. It is a polymer made from mixing silicone oil and boric acid.
Function
Silly Putty can be wadded up, stretched out, and pressed against a newspaper so that the ink comes off on the putty, replicating the words and images. When rolled into a ball, it is known for its high degree of bounciness. The Apollo astronauts used it to hold their tools in place, instead of having them float through the air in zero gravity.
Features
As all users of Silly Putty have experienced, it is a "dilatant compound," which means that it is viscous but becomes solid when pressure is applied to it. It is non-toxic and hypo-allergenic.
Size
In the beginning, Silly Putty eggs contained 1 oz. of putty. Today's eggs only hold 13.3 grams.
Fun fact
More than 4,500 tons of Silly Putty have been sold throughout the world. Six hundred pounds are manufactured each day by Binney &Smith of Easton, Pennsylvania.