Super Slurper - Waterlock (Sodium polyacrylate)

The demonstrator pours a cup of liquid into a styrofoam cup, waits a few seconds and inverts the cup.  No liquid leaves the cup.  This demonstration is used to illustrate properties of a plastic product (sodium polyacrylate) and its phenomenal ability to absorb as much as 700x its mass in water.

Concepts:   Properties of polymers

Time Required:   15 minutes

Chemicals Needed:  Waterlock (sodium polyacrylate)