Build Your Own Lava Lamp

A lava lamp works because of two different scientific principles density and polarity.

Build your own lava lamp. Watch what happens to the water with your kids. I know i ve been complaining about the weather the past couple months but this weekend was absolutely beautiful. Try some funky science with our lava lamp experiment. Break open an oil soluble marker or pen and place the inked felt into a container of benzyl alcohol.

Fill the rest with water leaving a little of space at the top. Then add some salt to the bottle or an effervescent tablet so the mixture starts fizzing. To make a lava lamp with household ingredients start by pouring vegetable oil water and food coloring into a plastic bottle. Did everyone enjoy mother s day weekend.

Fizzy tablet alka seltzer vitamin tablet or similar food colouring colour of your choice. Density is the measurement of how compact a substance is how much of it fits in a certain amount of space. Then add water until there s around an inch remaining at the top. Make your own lava lamp.

How to make the lava lamp. Watch your lava lamp erupt into activity. The oil floats on the surface because the water is heavier has a higher density than oil. Oil and water just do not mix.

Our weekend was filled with long days in the sun four wheeler rides family meals bike riding and bubbles. Make an alka seltzer powered lava lamp from science buddies make your own lava lamp from science buddies create underwater fireworks with chemistry from scientific american. Chemistry gets a disco twist in this fun experiment using every day kitchen ingredients. Make your own lava lamp.

Make your own lava lamp. As the reaction slows down simply add more alka seltzer. Notice that the water sinks below the vegetable oil. A few minutes is usually a good time to leave the inked felt in the alcohol.

It will sink slowly beneath the oil layer creating lots of bubbles. Leaving it in longer will give a darker color but will also increase the tendency to bleed into the brine. The key to how the lava lamp works is the fact that oil and water don t mix. Fill the bottle two thirds full of oil.