Build Your Own Lava Lamp

Break open an oil soluble marker or pen and place the inked felt into a container of benzyl alcohol.

Build your own lava lamp.

Then add some salt to the bottle or an effervescent tablet so the mixture starts fizzing. Leaving it in longer will give a darker color but will also increase the tendency to bleed into the brine. First fill the empty water bottle about 2 3 full with vegetable oil. 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.

Did everyone enjoy mother s day weekend. A lava lamp works because of two different scientific principles density and polarity. As the reaction slows down simply add more alka seltzer. The oil floats on the surface because the water is heavier has a higher density than oil.

Fizzy tablet alka seltzer vitamin tablet or similar food colouring colour of your choice. Our weekend was filled with long days in the sun four wheeler rides family meals bike riding and bubbles. I know i ve been complaining about the weather the past couple months but this weekend was absolutely beautiful. Notice that the water sinks below the vegetable oil.

Make your own lava lamp instructions. Density is the measurement of how compact a substance is how much of it fits in a certain amount of space. Make your own lava lamp. Try some funky science with our lava lamp experiment.

The key to how the lava lamp works is the fact that oil and water don t mix. Make your own lava lamp. How to make the lava lamp. A few minutes is usually a good time to leave the inked felt in the alcohol.

Fill the rest with water leaving a little of space at the top. 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. Then add water until there s around an inch remaining at the top. Oil and water just do not mix.

Watch your lava lamp erupt into activity. Fill the bottle two thirds full of oil. Make your own lava lamp. It will sink slowly beneath the oil layer creating lots of bubbles.