Build Your Own Lava Lamps

Commercial lava lamps use a proprietary combination of melted waxes.

Build your own lava lamps.

It will sink slowly beneath the oil layer creating lots of bubbles. Fill the bottle two thirds full of oil. The alcohol and oil used in this lamp are flammable and must be treated with care when heating them to get the lava moving. Leaving it in longer will give a darker color but will also increase the tendency to bleed into the brine.

I ll show you two different ways to make your la. What you will need to make your lava lamp science experiment is in this picture. The oil floats on the surface because the water is heavier has a higher density than oil. Make your own lava lamp instructions.

As the reaction slows down simply add more alka seltzer. This is a safe and fun science experiment you can do at home or in a classroom. Then add water until there s around an inch remaining at the top. Make this lamp only with adult supervision.

Remember that the colors will blend together so be careful of your mix. Watch your lava lamp erupt into activity. It s a lot of fun if you have a group of children and each child can have their own supplies. Watch what happens to the water with your kids.

Break open an oil soluble marker or pen and place the inked felt into a container of benzyl alcohol. 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. Notice that the water sinks below the vegetable oil. Easy to make lava lamp science experiment.

Lava lamp science project. You can also add some glitter for some extra bling. A lava lamp works because of two different scientific principles density and polarity. Add about 8 to 10 drops of food coloring.

The food coloring droplets will fall through the oil and rest on top of the water. How to make the lava lamp. I just made two different lava lamps using one color for each bottle. A few minutes is usually a good time to leave the inked felt in the alcohol.

Children should show an adult these instructions and ask for help and not attempt this on their own. First fill the empty water bottle about 2 3 full with vegetable oil. When the bubbles have stopped dribble a couple drops of food coloring into the bottle. Density is the measurement of how compact a substance is how much of it fits in a certain amount of space.

Fill the rest with water leaving a little of space at the top.