Is Kinetic Sand Magnetic?

Kinetic sand is a toy that’s one of the coolest and popular nowadays. It’s magical that kids and even adults are drawn to them. It’s available in different colors and looks like your regular sand. It could be molded into any shape you wish and it resembles the look of wet sand.

It’s a mixture of sand and polymers so you would get to experience a different sensory sensation when it’s played. Part of its appeal is when you hold it, it would move and fall through your fingers. You could stamp magnetic letters into it to be able to create words.

It’s very enjoyable since it could be molded like clay but it’s better since it has a silky feeling to it that kids and adults alike think it’s wonderful!

The exact composition of kinetic sand is 98% sand and 2% magic, so you could pull it, shape it, and mold it, to create unlimited incredible sand art. It’s known as the squeezable sand you can’t put down that’s why some adults use it as their stress relievers by squeezing on them!

Kinetic sand could be sliced, smashed, and scooped which makes it a grand sensory experience. But what makes it all possible?

Kinetic sand has transfixing effects since it’s regular sand coated with silicone oil. The silicone in its content contains a mixture of a group of materials like silicon and oxygen. Silicones are polymers therefore they're molecules made up of long chains of repeated units.

The same compound is used for cosmetics, lotions, shampoos, and conditioners, to lubricants and sealants. One thing that’s unique about silicone oils is their properties could be liquid that could freely flow or could be semisolids that flow slowly in the absence of pressure but act like rubbery solids under stress. This state or characteristic is viscoelasticity.

With kinetic sand, the polymer chains within the silicone oil make the sand particles stick together so you can form them into shapes. However, the shapes would slowly flatten out over time. But you could do them over and over again!

The silicone-oil-coated sand particles stick only to each other, not to other surfaces. Therefore, kinetic sand doesn't seem sticky at all and is easy to clean up.

Kinetic sand has no analogy in nature. Kinetic sand is coated beach sand with a polymer.

One question is often asked, Is kinetic sand magnetic?

Kinetic sand is not magnetic. All the types of sand would be hard to classify or determine if it’s magnetic and it requires knowing what ’s composed of. There is only one type of sand that is usually magnetic and it’s black sand.

Most types of black sand could be found near a volcano and as debris from a volcanic eruption. Others are formed where there are heavy minerals. They often contain a magnetic mineral called magnetite. Volcanic minerals and lava fragments commonly have magnetite in them. Magnetite is a type of iron oxide that is naturally occurring, and it is what makes black sand magnetic.

This type of sand could be found on many beaches in Hawaii, like Punaluu. But they could be found in other places in the world that have black sand beaches.  There are black sand beaches in New Zealand and Iceland.

These black sands would be attracted to the magnet in the same way that iron filings are attracted to it. You could try and see for yourself, bring a magnet next time you go to a black sand beach!

Let say, black sand would be used in kinetic sand, would then it be magnetic? Still, no because it would be coated with a polymer and would lose its original raw properties into it.

After Thoughts

Kinetic sand could be magnetic in the way they memorize kids and adults in its awesomeness but it’s not magnetic in properties.

It’s a hit because it’s not messy to use and it’s very easy to clean up. It’s perfect for neat-freaks parents whose kid has a creative penchant for building sand sculptures.

Kinetic sand is a stimulating toy that’s great for the children's imagination and enhances their manipulative ability. It’s so good to feel since it’s soft, easy to shape or sculpt that impressively holds its shape and all the details.

It never dries out or hardens so the kids could build again and again with their kinetic sand!

You can find kinetic sand for sale on Amazon.