Next if you don t have alka seltzer you can make your own mix.
Vegetable oil lava lamp instructions.
Vegetable oil on the other hand is a nonpolar molecule made of long chains of hydrocarbons strings of carbon atoms bonded to hydrogen atoms.
We found it created a lot of bubbles and the clarity of the lava lamp was not as good but it does still work.
Take the alka seltzer tablets and break them into 2 or 3 pieces.
A traditional ceramic dish oil lamp how the vegetable oil lamp works.
The colour will mix with the water at.
Add 3 4 drops of the food colour to the water and oil solution and mix it well.
When using aspirin eno tablet.
Lava lamp without alka seltzer.
The vegetable oil will be drawn up into the wick.
Instead of using a light in our homemade lava lamp we used alka seltzer to power the lamp.
The flame ignites it causing the oil to vaporize.
Top up to the near top with the vegetable oil.
Fill the bottle up about 1 4th 1 quarter with water.
To make a cool looking lava lamp you ll need a large flashlight like the one in the.
Your lava lamp is ready.
Even if you are using olive oil which is fairly expensive it still ends up being cheaper than most candles.
Vegetable oil or you could use mineral or baby oil instead fizzing tablets such as alka seltzer food coloring.
These stick to the water droplets.
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.
Food coloring primary colors or neon.
Even a small amount of oil can burn for a few hours.
Unlike the water molecule there is equal sharing of electrons between the carbon and hydrogen atoms.
To begin color about 1 2 cup of water with food coloring.
Original alka seltzer tablets.
The oil and water should separate into two layers water at the bottom and oil on the top.
Once the oil and water have separated add enough food colouring to get the colour you want.
The water gas combo is less dense than the oil so they rise to the top of the flask.
If you don t have all the ingredients on hand you can make a few substitutions.
To make a lava lamp with household ingredients start by pouring vegetable oil water and food coloring into a plastic bottle.
Fill the bottle about a quarter full with water.
Instead of vegetable oil you can use baby oil.
I like using these gel food colors for vibrant coloring.
Then add some salt to the bottle or an effervescent tablet so the mixture starts fizzing.
The alka seltzer reacts with the water to produce carbon dioxide gas bubbles.
Watch scientist joe as he makes the lava lamp experiment here.