Kids DIY: Easy to Make Bubbly Lava Lamps

This time try this science experiment, which is totally fun at the same time there are few lessons your kids can learn from it. It’s a must try experiment whilst it is easy to make also. For those who started learning chemistry in their school must have known the secret behind this lava formation. If not, you can check it out, it’s mentioned below. You can definitely try this when you have any science experiments at your school.

All you need for this experiment:

  • Water
  • Vegetable oil
  • Food coloring
  • Clean bottle
  • Alka-Seltzer or instead you can also use any other tablets that fizz

Instructions:

  • Pour water in the bottle until it is quarter full. But before pouring, make sure that the bottle is super dry. Try making this science lava lamp in a bottle with a big mouth so that while pouring water and oil, it won’t spill on the ground. Otherwise you can use a funnel which will help your kids to pour them easily and quickly.
  • Now pour carefully vegetable oil in to the bottle until it is almost full. So you have taken twenty five per cent of water and seventy five per cent of vegetable oil.

 

  • Now keep the bottle still for a minute to allow water and oil to get separated.
  • Add 8 to 10 drops of food colorings into the bottle. You can choose any color you like other than yellow. This is because vegetable oil already is in yellowish color so it won’t look good if the color is also in yellow.
  • It is really interesting to watch the process of color entering to the layers of oil and water.

 

  • Now as the color mixes up with water, take Alka-Seltzer tablet and cut into small pieces. Cut them into 5 to 6 pieces. First drop one piece into the lamp and watch what happens next. You can see lava fizzing out inside the bottle. That is the best part of the experiment to watch.

 

  • You can put other pieces of the tablet one by one, when it stops fizzing each time.

 

This is a fun science experiment every student must try during their school days.  Do you know the scientific reason behind this lava formation? Given below is the secret behind it.

 

You all might know the fact that oil and water do not mix each other. As they separate oil rests at the top of the water because oil has less density as compared to water. The food color you dropped into the bottle first enter into the oil layer and then mixes up with water. Later when the tablet Alka-Seltzer is dipped into the solution, it produces carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide as it rises from the solution it also takes little amount of water along swith it. As the gas escapes from the bottle, the water falls back to its old position. The reason behind the fizziness is that the tablet contains citric acid plus baking soda. These two react with water to form sodium citrate and carbon dioxide gas.

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(Image source: jugglingwithkids.com/)

Ranjana Rajan: Hailing from Kerala, a hardcore craft lover, day dreamer and peace lover. Love reading and travelling a lot.