Jackson Pollock Research

Words: 817
Pages: 4

Science Fair Background Research

The great artist Jackson Pollock was known for his famous splatter paintings, consisting of blotches of paint that seem to appear in a haphazardly manner. Little did people know that these artistic irregularities were carefully and individually planned. This experiment recreates the techniques that Pollock used to carry out his signature look, in which we investigate the effects of viscosity on a splatter radius. It is a fitting procedure for students like me since it marries the concepts of physics and art together. This investigation will allow one to achieve a deeper understanding to how science plays a significant role in art. Moreover, we can learn the rules of viscosity and how they apply to the fluids
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The viscosity of a fluid is the amount of “thickness” a fluid has or its resistance to flow/deform. Fluids with high viscosity- like honey- tend to move much slower as opposed to water, which has a low viscosity due to their cohesion (The Sci Guys). Cohesion is the amount of force that holds particles of the same type together . This will affect the speed at which it free-falls; the more viscosity a fluid has, the longer the substance will drip without breaking (Ouellette). This is because viscosity slows the amplification of the waves in the air that cause a drop fluid to snap (Ouellette). As my independent variable, I am going to change the viscosities of acrylic paint by diluting it with different amounts of water. Dilution is the process of thinning a fluid by reducing the amount of solute in a solution by adding more solvent. In this case, water is the solvent. With the different viscosities, there will be different rates of free-falling from a set height, thus different impact forces of the paint. Impact force is the amount of force present in a short period of time when at least two objects collide. The formulas for speed (S=Distance/Time ) and impact force (F=mgh/d)will be used to support how viscosity affects the radius length of the splatter with calculated evidence. The formula of impact force is a mere alteration of the formula work=gravitational potential energy, or