VISCOSITY RACES investigating the flow of liquids experiment

WHAT YOU NEED
ketchup , mustard, molasses, corn syrup, and spaghetti sauce, honey, bbq or any other liquids.

PROCEDURE
Spread out a sheet or two of newspaper to make cleanup easier.

Put a small amount of ketchup and other liquids on the plate, being careful to keep them apart. If they end up touching it will not work. You are setting up the start line of a race between the different liquids.

Before you do the next step make a prediction on which liquid is going to win the race?

Now once you have all the liquids lined up on the plate, slowly tip the plate until one of the liquids starts to move. What is happening?

Most likely liquids such as molasses, corn syrup, and spaghetti sauce, like most thick liquids, pour slowly and stick to everything, but they always flow.

Ketchup is actually a very odd kind of liquid. It does not flow easily until it receives a sharp blow, and if the force stops, so does the flow of ketchup.

Tap the top of the plate rapidly with the spoon a couple times. What happens now?

SCIENCE BEHIND KETCHUP MOVING
Tapping the plate sends vibrations through the ketchup, making it flow. This is why you usually have to tap the ketchup bottle before it comes out.