How to Make a Lava Lamp with Household Ingredients
Have you ever caught yourself being hypnotized by a lava lamp? You hold it in your hand, move it slightly while inside the liquid quivers and separates into different shapes, and colors. Then you look at the price tag - and put it back. Fortunately, you can make a simple home-spun version. It won't look exactly like one of the store bought ones but it will be a fun project. Moreover, you will learn a thing or two about chemistry while you're at it!
[edit] Steps
- Get a 16 oz or 64 oz soda bottle.
- Fill the bottle 3/4 full with vegetable oil. Add water to the remainder of the bottle, almost to the top but without overflowing. Drop in 10 drops of food coloring, to make the solution appear fairly dark.
- Cut the Alka-Seltzer or Airborne tablet into 8 pieces. Drop one of the tiny pieces into the oil and water mixture. The mixture will start to bubble.
- Wait until the bubbling stops and add another piece of Alka-Seltzer or Airborne. Continue until there is no more Alka-Seltzer or Airborne left, and the bubbling has completely stopped.
- Screw on the cap of the soda bottle. Tip the bottle back and forth and watch the wave appear. The tiny droplets of liquid join together to make one big lava-like blob.
- Place a strong flashlight or search light under the bottle. This will illuminate the bubbles for maximum effect.
- If you don't have Alka-Seltzer or Airbourne then salt works just the same. ==
[edit] Tips
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This experiment demonstrates some science you already know...oil and water do not mix. Even if you try to really shake-up the bottle, the oil breaks up into small little drops, but the oil doesn't mix with the water. Food coloring only mixes with water. That's why it does not color the oil. In addition, the Alka-Seltzer or Airborne tablet reacted with the water to make tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide gas. These bubbles attached themselves to the blobs of colored water and cause them to float to the surface. When the bubbles popped, the color blobs sank back to the bottom of the bottle.
- You can also add decorations like glitter, sequins, or tiny beads.
- Lava lamps such as these are a great way to reuse empty jars such as those used for peanut butter and jelly.It is also great for science projects
[edit] Things You'll Need
- 16 oz plastic soda bottle, empty and clean.
- Soda bottle cap
- Vegetable oil
- Food coloring
- An Alka-Seltzer, Airborne tablet, or salt (use large pieces, small pieces don't work as nicely )
- Water
- Flashlight (optional)
[edit] Sources and Citations
- SteveSpanglerScience.com - More instructions on this experiment and the source of this article.
- OozingGoo.com - Instructions on how to make several kinds of "heatable" lava lamps.
