At the top the gas is released and the water bubble falls back down to start the process again. The gas bubbles up (because it is less dense than oil) with bits of the coloured water trapped. The chemical reaction that powers our lava lamp is an acid-base reaction that releases CO2 (Carbon Dioxide gas). As the glow fades, simply expose it to bright light to charge it again. Once it is charged simply turn off the lights to see the glow. The Lava Lamp will need to charge in bright light in order to glow. For this glow to work it needs to charge in the light.

Glow in the dark pigment powder has luminescent phosphors which luminescence (glow). When we made our Glow in the Dark Lava Lamp with photoluminescent pigment the glow happens even without black light. We have a different science concept powering the other glow lava lamp. Our glow power with Tonic Water is due to the fact that quinine, a component of Tonic Water, fluoresces under black light. You can explore this by placing a lid on your lava lamp (only once the reaction is completely finished) and gently tipping the bottle back and forth to watch the waves that form.Дiffusion is also evident as the food colouring mixes with the water in colourful swirls. Oil is lighter than water and floats on top of the bottom water layer. Our Lava Lamps teach so many science concepts.ДЇirst, it is a wonderful demonstration about density. Always ready to take things up a notch we decided to go for it. Now, what can you use instead of water? Well we came up with a cool solution that gives our homemade lava lamps glow power! Glow in the Dark Lava LampДЄfter building our first Bubble Bottle my son announced that he wanted to try it with Tonic Water instead of plain water to see if we could make a Glow Lava Lamp. Add a teaspoon of the mixture and watch the reaction go! The best part is how this helps kids understand that it is once again an acid-base reaction charging our lava lamps. If you ever make bath bombs like us, you already have the ingredients on hand! Simple mix 2 parts baking soda with 1 part citric acid. Next, if you donвЂ™t have Alka Seltzer, you can make your own mix. We found it created a lot of bubbles and the clarity of the lava lamp was not as good, but it does still work. Instead of vegetable oil you can use baby oil. If you donвЂ™t have all the ingredients on hand you can make a few substitutions. If you need to put a lid on the container, make sure the reaction has completely stopped as a gas is released and a build up of pressure from the reaction could cause the container to rupture if you place a lid on it. If you want to store the container and use it at a later time simply set it somewhere safe. To start it again, simply add more Alka Seltzer. Watch the lava lamp come to life with bubbles!ДЄfter a few minutes the reaction will settle down. Now itвЂ™s time for the magic! Add a teaspoon of Alka Seltzer (if yours are in tablet form, break the tablets into quarters and add a quarter tablet). This is a fascinating step watching as the food colouring drops fall through the oil and rest on top of the water before slowly starting to mix with the water. Fill the bottle leaving about an inch at the top. Jars or Bottles вЂ“ clear (we found washed, large juice bottles worked well, but so do mason jars)ДЇill the bottom of the jar with water to about 1/4 full. Then you can try them all and see what works best for you! There are a few different options for making your lava lamp so you can pick the option that works best with your readily available supplies, but letвЂ™s start with a complete supply list for all the different options. If you are unable to see our video, please turn off your adblocker as it also blocks our video feed. The kids and I were fascinated by the little beads of colour that bounced joyfully in our bottles. Even adults will enjoy watching the bubbling lava reaction.

They need to be mature enough to be able to just watch and enjoy the reaction, which is truly mesmerizing and relaxing. I recommend it for preschool and up, as long as they are old enough to not be spilling or playing with the mix in the jars. Kids of all ages and abilities can benefit from this activity. The best part was seeing how their minds were thinking, analyzing and contemplating as they watch the bubbles bouncing and moving around in our lava lamps.ДЄs an educator I love how easy it is to do this experiment. This simple science experiment is always a huge hit with kids of all ages. Not seeing our videos? Turn off any adblockers to ensure our video feed can be seen.

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