What is quicksand?

jimincreek6

It is a hydrocolloid gel consisiting of fine granular matter(sand or salt),clay and salt water.It is usually no more than a couple of feet deep.See Wikepedia, quicksand. Feb 09 07, 10:28 PM

zbeckabee

"Quicksand is basically just ordinary sand that has been so saturated with water that the friction between sand particles is reduced. The resulting sand is a mushy mixture of sand and water that can no longer support any weight." http://www.howstuffworks.com/quicksand.htm Feb 10 07, 6:24 AM

skysmom65

Quicksand is a hydrocolloid gel consisting of fine granular matter (such as sand or silt), clay, and salt water. When unperturbed, it often appears to be solid; however, even a minor (less than 1%) change in the stress on the quicksand will cause a sudden decrease in its viscosity. After the initial perturbation—such as a person attempting to walk on it—the water and sand in the quicksand separate and dense regions of sand sediment form; it is because of the formation of these high volume fraction regions that the viscosity of the quicksand seems to suddenly increase. In order to move within the quicksand, a person or object must apply sufficient pressure on the compacted sand to re-introduce enough water to liquefy it. The forces required to do this are quite large: to remove a foot from quicksand at a speed of one centimeter per second would require the same amount of force as "that needed to lift a medium-sized car." [1] It was commonly believed that the behavior of quicksand was due solely to saturated or supersaturated suspensions of granules in water. Pressure from underground sources of water would separate and suspend the granular particles, reducing the friction between them. As of September 2005, it has been shown that it is the presence of salt that is largely responsible.[1] The stability of the colloidal quicksand is compromised by the presence of salt; increasing the likelihood of sand flocculation and the formation of the high viscosity regions of sediment responsible for quicksand's "trapping" power. http://www.answers.com/quicksand Feb 10 07, 9:34 AM