physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

, a paste is a substance that behaves as a

solid Solid is a state of matter where molecules are closely packed and can not slide past each other. Solids resist compression, expansion, or external forces that would alter its shape, with the degree to which they are resisted dependent upon the ...

until a sufficiently large load or stress is applied, at which point it flows like a

fluid In physics, a fluid is a liquid, gas, or other material that may continuously motion, move and Deformation (physics), deform (''flow'') under an applied shear stress, or external force. They have zero shear modulus, or, in simpler terms, are M ...

. In rheological terms, a paste is an example of a Bingham plastic

. Pastes typically consist of a suspension of

granular material A granular material is a conglomeration of discrete solid, macroscopic scale, macroscopic particles characterized by a loss of energy whenever the particles interact (the most common example would be friction when granulation, grains collide). T ...

in a background fluid. The individual grains are jammed together like

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

on a

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

, forming a disordered,

glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

y or

amorphous In condensed matter physics and materials science, an amorphous solid (or non-crystalline solid) is a solid that lacks the long-range order that is a characteristic of a crystal. The terms "glass" and "glassy solid" are sometimes used synonymousl ...

structure, and giving pastes their solid-like character. It is this "jamming together" that gives pastes some of their most unusual properties; this causes paste to demonstrate properties of fragile matter. Examples include starch pastes, toothpaste, mustard, and

putty PuTTY () is a free and open-source terminal emulator, serial console and network file transfer application. It supports several network protocols, including SCP, SSH, Telnet, rlogin, and raw socket connection. It can also connect to a se ...

. In pharmacology, paste is a basic pharmaceutical form. It consists of a fatty base (e.g., petroleum jelly) and at least 25% of a solid substance (e.g.,

zinc oxide Zinc oxide is an inorganic compound with the Chemical formula, formula . It is a white powder which is insoluble in water. ZnO is used as an additive in numerous materials and products including cosmetics, Zinc metabolism, food supplements, rubbe ...

). Pharmaceutical pastes are typically intended for external application to the skin. They are usually thick and do not melt at physiologic temperatures.Juch, R & Rufli, Th & Surber, Christian. (1994)
Pastes: What Do They Contain? How Do They Work?
''Dermatology'' (Basel, Switzerland). 189. 373-7. .

References

Materials Drug delivery devices Dosage forms {{material-stub