Vegetable Oil Lava Lamp Instructions

The alka seltzer reacts with the water to produce carbon dioxide gas bubbles.

Vegetable oil lava lamp instructions.

Instead of using a light in our homemade lava lamp we used alka seltzer to power the lamp. Fill 1 4 of your glass container with water. Vegetable oil on the other hand is a nonpolar molecule made of long chains of hydrocarbons strings of carbon atoms bonded to hydrogen atoms. Add 3 4 drops of the food colour to the water and oil solution and mix it well.

Even a small amount of oil can burn for a few hours. Even if you are using olive oil which is fairly expensive it still ends up being cheaper than most candles. Fill up to of t the glass mason jar with vegetable oil fill the remaining of the glass mason jar with water leaving about an inch empty at the top. Take the alka seltzer tablets and break them into 2 or 3 pieces.

Unlike the water molecule there is equal sharing of electrons between the carbon and hydrogen atoms. Add a few drops of food. Watch scientist joe as he makes the lava lamp experiment here. The water gas combo is less dense than the oil so they rise to the top of the flask.

Your lava lamp is ready. To make a lava lamp with household ingredients start by pouring vegetable oil water and food coloring into a plastic bottle. The flame ignites it causing the oil to vaporize. Top up to the near top with the vegetable oil.

Food coloring primary colors or neon. The colour will mix with the water at. I like using these gel food colors for vibrant coloring. Instead of vegetable oil you can use baby oil.

Next if you don t have alka seltzer you can make your own mix. Pour the vegetable oil in the bottle until is almost full. To begin color about 1 2 cup of water with food coloring. These stick to the water droplets.

The vegetable oil will be drawn up into the wick. Once the oil and water have separated add enough food colouring to get the colour you want. Lava lamp without alka seltzer. Fill the bottle about a quarter full with water.

The oil and water should separate into two layers water at the bottom and oil on the top. To make a cool looking lava lamp you ll need a large flashlight like the one in the. Then add some salt to the bottle or an effervescent tablet so the mixture starts fizzing. If you don t have all the ingredients on hand you can make a few substitutions.

When using aspirin eno tablet. Fill the bottle up about 1 4th 1 quarter with water. We found it created a lot of bubbles and the clarity of the lava lamp was not as good but it does still work.