Ketchup

[katkins1812]

I know that this must seem like a stupid question, but I am really stumped on this one...

Is ketchup a liquid or a solid??

Any one know???

thanx

[:Ace:]

Liquid i guess

[Postdog]

It's neither - it's thixotropic, as are things like paint. It basically means it's a gel that when agitated becomes less gel like.

thix�ot�ro�py

Pronunciation: (thik-so'tru-pē), [key]
�n. Chem.
the property exhibited by certain gels of becoming liquid when stirred or shaken.

[Buenchico]

It's probably an emulsion (in the same way that mayonnaise and baby lotion both are) but, if you insist on choosing between 'liquid' and 'solid', then it definitely falls into the 'liquid' category:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emulsion

Chris

[gen2]

It is neither. It is a mixture. It is a suspension of solids in a liquid.

[Skids]

Ketchup is a colloid, i.e. a substance that cannot be easliy placed into either the solid, liquid or gas categories. Ketchup is in fact a sol, which is solid particles suspended in liquid. Sols will seperate out over a period of time, as opposed to a solution which is solid and liquid mixed but will not seperate out, unless the liquid evaporates.

Types of colloids are foam (gas held within a liquid), gel (liquid held within a solid), sol (as above), emulsion (two or more liquids that won't mix held together by an emulsifying agent), and solution (as above).

Also, ketchup is a pseudoplastic sol which means that if a large shear rate is applied to it, its shear stress decreases. Put simply, if you slap the bottom of the ketchup bottle (thus applying a large shear rate), the ketchup becomes more runny (as its shear stress decreases).

[seeandess]

its a sauce!!!!!

[katkins1812]

Thank you very much everyone!!

[pagey]

It is most definately a mixture (a suspension) as gen2 states. As is milk.

An interesting one is pitch, which probably falls into Skids's colloid description. It can be cracked with a hammer but flows like a liquid given time. Glass also demonstrates this propery to an extent as the bottom half of a pane of glass becomes thicker than the top over a substantial amount of time.

[Skids]

A pitch isn't a colloid, its a type of liquid. Colloids are mixtures of gasses, liquids and/or solids. A pitch, such as glass, is a liquid. In the short term it behaves as a solid would, in the long term it behaves as a liquid, this is due to it almost setting into a solid but never actually quite making it there.

[waltadasilva]

ketch is deffinately down. I saw him last Tuesday and he lost his job

[AlMac11]

its a gas