to these parameters, all shear thickening fluids are stabilized suspensions and have a volume fraction of solid that is relatively high. Viscosity of a solution as a function of shear rate is given by the power-law equation, , where η is the viscosity, K is a material-based constant, and γ̇ is the applied shear rate. Dilatant behavior occurs when n is greater than 1. Below is a table of viscosity values for some common materials. {| class="wikitable" |- ! Material ! Viscosity (cP) |- | Benzene | 0.60 |- | Carbon tetrachloride | 0.88 |- | Ethanol | 1.06 |- | Water | 1–5 |- | Mercury | 1.55 |- | Pentane | 2.24 |- | Blood | 10 |- | Antifreeze | 14 |- | Sulfuric acid | 27 |- | Maple syrup | 150–200 |- | Honey | 2,000–3,000 |- | Chocolate syrup | 10,000–25,000 |- | Ketchup | 50,000–70,000 |- | Peanut butter | 150,000–250,000 |} Stabilized suspensions A suspension is composed of a fine, particulate phase dispersed throughout a differing, heterogeneous phase. Shear-thickening behavior is observed in systems with a solid, particulate phase dispersed within a liquid phase. These solutions are different from a Colloid in that they are unstable; the solid particles in dispersion are sufficiently large for sedimentation, causing them to eventually settle. Whereas the solids dispersed within a colloid are smaller and will not settle. There are multiple methods for stabilizing suspensions, including electrostatics and sterics. In an unstable suspension, the dispersed, particulate phase will come out of solution in response to forces acting upon the particles, such as gravity or Hamaker attraction. The magnitude of the effect these forces have on pulling the particulate phase out of solution is proportional to the size of the particulates; for a large particulate, the gravitational forces are greater than the particle-particle interactions, whereas the opposite is true for small particulates. Shear thickening behavior is typically observed in suspensions of small, solid particulates, indicating that the particle-particle Hamaker attraction is the dominant force. Therefore, stabilizing a suspension is dependent upon introducing a counteractive repulsive force. Hamaker theory describes the attraction between bodies, such as particulates. It was realized that the explanation of Van der Waals forces could be upscaled from explaining the interaction between two molecules with induced dipoles to macro-scale bodies by summing all the intermolecular forces between the bodies. Similar to Van der Waals