Build Your Own Lava Lamp

Try some funky science with our lava lamp experiment.

Build your own lava lamp.

A lava lamp works because of two different scientific principles density and polarity. Break open an oil soluble marker or pen and place the inked felt into a container of benzyl alcohol. Then add water until there s around an inch remaining at the top. Leaving it in longer will give a darker color but will also increase the tendency to bleed into the brine.

Notice that the water sinks below the vegetable oil. Fill the rest with water leaving a little of space at the top. As the reaction slows down simply add more alka seltzer. Make your own lava lamp.

Make your own lava lamp. 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. Did everyone enjoy mother s day weekend. Watch your lava lamp erupt into activity.

Oil and water just do not mix. Make your own lava lamp. First fill the empty water bottle about 2 3 full with vegetable oil. I know i ve been complaining about the weather the past couple months but this weekend was absolutely beautiful.

Chemistry gets a disco twist in this fun experiment using every day kitchen ingredients. The oil floats on the surface because the water is heavier has a higher density than oil. Density is the measurement of how compact a substance is how much of it fits in a certain amount of space. A few minutes is usually a good time to leave the inked felt in the alcohol.

The key to how the lava lamp works is the fact that oil and water don t mix. How to make the lava lamp. It will sink slowly beneath the oil layer creating lots of bubbles. Make your own lava lamp instructions.

Fill the bottle two thirds full of oil. To make a lava lamp with household ingredients start by pouring vegetable oil water and food coloring into a plastic bottle. Fizzy tablet alka seltzer vitamin tablet or similar food colouring colour of your choice. 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.