[Home]OobleckPit

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math by CoryWelch who thinks this is a GoodIdea

GoodIdea originated from LieselHilkemeyer

Additional logistics planning by KaviDey

the oobleck should be bright green or teal. we have yet to decide. <-- don't want it to stain people or be harder to dispose of so maybe no color...


Initial Planning

Frosh pit size: 42632 cubic inches (73x73x8?) = 698613 cubic cm

which will fit in 7 30-gallon trash bags or 15 13-gallon ones

2:1 cornstarch:water ratio

cornstarch density 0.54 g/cm³, water density 0.9970470 g/cm³, oobleck density = 0.692349 g/cm³

grams of oobleck 483684 -> 1066 pounds oobleck

probably about 6 ElioThadhani s and 10 trash bags of 10/13 of melted CoryWelch

251 kg cornstarch (we could probably get away with buying less and having it be less dense)

probably a lot of green dye, and water

car: liesel which is an acura mdx and has a max load of 1300 pounds so we should take two trips to be safe (or we rent a uhaul?)

maximum time to dispose: 4 hours

can frosh carry elio to liesel's car with rope: yes

can the concept of a cart occupy our minds: no :'(


Acquiring the Cornstarch

Most restaurant supply stores (in person and online) sell corn starch in 50 lb bags.

Initially something like webrestaurantstore looks appealing, selling several brands of 50 lb bags for $47ish, but the shipping cost to get it delivered is equal to the price of the corn starch itself. Looking at local suppliers gives better results: Restaurant Depot in Walnut Drive, Victoria Pacific, C. Pacific Foods, B&R Food, Buchmann Bakery & Restaurant Distributor (in San Diego), and more.

Restaurant Depot sells bags or $21ish and you can get a day pass to shop there without an account (which requires being a registered business). Its close, cheap, and seems easy so what we're planning on going with. May of the other sites we had issues making accounts, they wouldn't sell to students. ech.


Disposal

where will the oobleck go: here ---> https://www.lacsd.org/services/solid-waste/facilities/puente-hills-materials-recovery-facility-mrf Cory emailed them and they said they would take it and we don't need to dry it out and they will charge us 72 dollars.

The price per ton is $126.22. They suggested that we bring it in large garbage bags instead of plastic contains (need to check the strength, maybe double bag?). We are required to wear safety vests which we can purchase there for $4 or bring or own. We can push it straight off the back of a truck into the disposal area (This will be much easier with a rented UHaul than from Liesel's car).


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Edited March 27, 2026 14:02 (diff)
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