How can gelatin move like that?

Answer

Hi Sharif,

Gelatin actually consists of long threads (large molecules) that are quite flexible. These molecules make a large number of nodes with each other. You can compare it to many rubber bands that you cut once. Then you get a lot of wires. If you tie them together more or less randomly and with several, you get a very complex tangle of rubber bands that can move in all directions. Gelatin also does something similar, while also retaining large amounts of water. This creates a kind of “blubber” that can move easily.

The fun part is that those knots melt in your mouth (as if the knots in the rubber bands are coming loose). So at room temperature you have the blubber and in your mouth (at 37°C) it is liquid.

Good luck with your work!

Johan Claes