Build Your Own Lava Lamp

Make your own lava lamp.

Build your own lava lamp.

A lava lamp works because of two different scientific principles density and polarity. Whether two liquids mix depends on the interactions between their molecules and also their freedom to move around the stronger the attractive forces and the greater the possibilities of movement the more likely they are to mix. Watch your lava lamp erupt into activity. Leaving it in longer will give a darker color but will also increase the tendency to bleed into the brine.

Fill the rest with water leaving a little of space at the top. Fill the bottle two thirds full of oil. Chemistry gets a disco twist in this fun experiment using every day kitchen ingredients. How to make the lava lamp.

Try some funky science with our lava lamp experiment. As the reaction slows down simply add more alka seltzer. Make your own lava lamp. The key to how the lava lamp works is the fact that oil and water don t mix.

Notice that the water sinks below the vegetable oil. The oil floats on the surface because the water is heavier has a higher density than oil. It will sink slowly beneath the oil layer creating lots of bubbles. Watch what happens to the water with your kids.

Oil and water just do not mix. Make your own lava lamp. A few minutes is usually a good time to leave the inked felt in the alcohol. Then add water until there s around an inch remaining at the top.

Make your own lava lamp instructions. First fill the empty water bottle about 2 3 full with vegetable oil. Fizzy tablet alka seltzer vitamin tablet or similar food colouring colour of your choice. Break open an oil soluble marker or pen and place the inked felt into a container of benzyl alcohol.

Density is the measurement of how compact a substance is how much of it fits in a certain amount of space. Did everyone enjoy mother s day weekend. 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. I know i ve been complaining about the weather the past couple months but this weekend was absolutely beautiful.