Build Your Own Lava Lamps

What you will need to make your lava lamp science experiment is in this picture.

Build your own lava lamps.

Lava lamp science project. It will sink slowly beneath the oil layer creating lots of bubbles. Make your own lava lamp. When the bubbles have stopped dribble a couple drops of food coloring into the bottle.

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. Break open an oil soluble marker or pen and place the inked felt into a container of benzyl alcohol. The oil floats on the surface because the water is heavier has a higher density than oil.

Watch what happens to the water with your kids. Oil and water just do not mix. First fill the empty water bottle about 2 3 full with vegetable oil. Remember that the colors will blend together so be careful of your mix.

The alcohol and oil used in this lamp are flammable and must be treated with care when heating them to get the lava moving. 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 just made two different lava lamps using one color for each bottle. Density is the measurement of how compact a substance is how much of it fits in a certain amount of space.

A lava lamp works because of two different scientific principles density and polarity. Make your own lava lamp instructions. Fill the bottle two thirds full of oil. I ll show you two different ways to make your la.

Notice that the water sinks below the vegetable oil. Then add water until there s around an inch remaining at the top. As the reaction slows down simply add more alka seltzer. Children should show an adult these instructions and ask for help and not attempt this on their own.

Add about 8 to 10 drops of food coloring. Fill the rest with water leaving a little of space at the top. It s a lot of fun if you have a group of children and each child can have their own supplies. The food coloring droplets will fall through the oil and rest on top of the water.

How to make the lava lamp. This is a safe and fun science experiment you can do at home or in a classroom. You can also add some glitter for some extra bling. A few minutes is usually a good time to leave the inked felt in the alcohol.

Commercial lava lamps use a proprietary combination of melted waxes.