• Question: how hot is lava?

    Asked by anon-202635 to Rebecca, Raashid, Matthew, Marie, Hanna, Gareth on 12 Mar 2019.
    • Photo: Gareth Nye

      Gareth Nye answered on 12 Mar 2019:

      I have no idea but I guess it would be pretty hot!

    • Photo: Rebecca Gosling

      Rebecca Gosling answered on 13 Mar 2019:

      Pretty hot! I don’t know exactly but I wouldn’t want to be close enough to it to find out!

    • Photo: Matthew Smith

      Matthew Smith answered on 13 Mar 2019:

      I wasn’t sure but a quick search suggests that it can be over 1000 C at its hottest. Lava is bad but the gas made by volcanoes is even worse! The heat from the eruption can create a release of gas that is nearly 1000C too but can travel down the side of the volcano at 62 mph and it has even been recorded to reach 430 mph!!!

    • Photo: Hanna Jeffery

      Hanna Jeffery answered on 14 Mar 2019:

      Hmm – I think the internet might know more than me on that one…

    • Photo: Marie Cameron

      Marie Cameron answered on 14 Mar 2019:

      I couldn’t be more accurate than very, very hot!! I know that when Mount Vesuvius (in Italy) errupted in 79AD (a really long time ago), it was one of the biggest ever, and the cloud of hot smoke and ash that rushed down the mountain was the thing that actually killed the people living at the base of the mountain, as it was too fast for them to get away from. If you go to Italy and visit the ruins of Pompei you can actually see the site where it happened and how the bodies were buried. Sad but fascinating!!

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