• Question: is custard a solid or a liquid?

    Asked by 11danjup to James, Marcus, Martin, Rob, Suzanne on 16 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Suzanne McEndoo

      Suzanne McEndoo answered on 16 Mar 2012:

      Yes!

      😛

      Actually, it’s a colloidal solution, which is solid particles suspended in a liquid. That’s why it can flow like a liquid and take the shape of it’s container, but if you put pressure on it, all the solid parts lock together and it starts behaving like a solid. I think it does this because of the shapes of the solid parts. They’re sharp rather than smooth, so they lock together under pressure rather than just rolling past each other.

    • Photo: Marcus Gallagher-Jones

      Marcus Gallagher-Jones answered on 16 Mar 2012:

      The only thing I’ll add is this video. If you have a swiming pool handy give it a go. Custard is one of my favourite food stuffs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN2D5y-AxIY

    • Photo: Martin Zaltz Austwick

      Martin Zaltz Austwick answered on 19 Mar 2012:

      Ah it depends on whether you mean custard in custard tarts. Because that’s more like a solid than a liquid! The proteins in the egg stick to one another and make a sort of lattice with water trapped inside.

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