Learn how to make a lava lamp easier with this fun science experiment for children. Using simple household items such as vegetable oil, food coloring, Alka-Seltzer and a bottle to create chemical reactions and funky colored balls that move like a real lava lamp.
What you'll need:
* Water
* A clear plastic bottle
* Vegetable oil
* Food coloring
* Alka-Seltzer (or other tablets that fizz)
Instructions:
1. Pour water into the plastic bottle until it is around one quarter full (you might want to use a funnel when filling the bottle so you don't spill anything).
2. Pour in vegetable oil until the bottle is nearly full.
3. Wait until the oil and water have separated.
4. Add around a dozen drops of food coloring to the bottle (choose any color you like).
5. Watch as the food coloring falls through the oil and mixes with the water.
6. Cut an Alka-Seltzer tablet into smaller pieces (around 5 or 6) and drop one of them into the bottle, things should start getting a little crazy, just like a real lava lamp!
7. When the bubbling stops, add another piece of Alka-Seltzer and enjoy the show!
If you've tried our oil and water experiment that you know the two do not mix very well. Oil and water added to the bottle separately from each other, with the oil on top, as it has a lower density than water. The dye is dropped through the oil and mixed with water in the bottom. The piece of Alka-Seltzer is dropped after small bubbles of carbon dioxide emissions rising to the top and take a little colored water along the walk. The gas escapes when it reaches the top and the colored water falls back. The reason of Alka-Seltzer fizz so is because it contains citric acid and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), the two react with water to form sodium citrate and carbon dioxide (which are the bubbles that carry water color on the top of the bottle).
Adding more Alka-Seltzer bottle to keep the reaction going so you can enjoy your funky lava lamp for longer. If you want to show someone later simply screw a bottle cap and add more Alka-Seltzer, when necessary. When you finish all your Alka-Seltzer, you can take the experiment one step more firmly screwed into a bottle cap and the reservoir bottle back and forth, what happens then?
What you'll need:
* Water
* A clear plastic bottle
* Vegetable oil
* Food coloring
* Alka-Seltzer (or other tablets that fizz)
Instructions:
1. Pour water into the plastic bottle until it is around one quarter full (you might want to use a funnel when filling the bottle so you don't spill anything).
2. Pour in vegetable oil until the bottle is nearly full.
3. Wait until the oil and water have separated.
4. Add around a dozen drops of food coloring to the bottle (choose any color you like).
5. Watch as the food coloring falls through the oil and mixes with the water.
6. Cut an Alka-Seltzer tablet into smaller pieces (around 5 or 6) and drop one of them into the bottle, things should start getting a little crazy, just like a real lava lamp!
7. When the bubbling stops, add another piece of Alka-Seltzer and enjoy the show!
If you've tried our oil and water experiment that you know the two do not mix very well. Oil and water added to the bottle separately from each other, with the oil on top, as it has a lower density than water. The dye is dropped through the oil and mixed with water in the bottom. The piece of Alka-Seltzer is dropped after small bubbles of carbon dioxide emissions rising to the top and take a little colored water along the walk. The gas escapes when it reaches the top and the colored water falls back. The reason of Alka-Seltzer fizz so is because it contains citric acid and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), the two react with water to form sodium citrate and carbon dioxide (which are the bubbles that carry water color on the top of the bottle).
Adding more Alka-Seltzer bottle to keep the reaction going so you can enjoy your funky lava lamp for longer. If you want to show someone later simply screw a bottle cap and add more Alka-Seltzer, when necessary. When you finish all your Alka-Seltzer, you can take the experiment one step more firmly screwed into a bottle cap and the reservoir bottle back and forth, what happens then?
