• Question: How do lava lamps work ????

    Asked by thedonishscienceexperiment115 to Amy, Karen, Sarah, Vijay, Will on 18 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Will Reynolds

      Will Reynolds answered on 18 Jun 2012:

      Lava lamps are made up of wax inside a coloured liquid. When you turn on the lamp the light heats up the wax and when it gets hot enough its density becomes less than the liquid it is in so it rises. When its at the top it is not being heated so eventually it cools down again and becomes more dense than the liquid so it sinks. Steps 1 and 2 keep repeating until you get bored and/or you go to bed! Hope this helps.

    • Photo: Amy Birch

      Amy Birch answered on 18 Jun 2012:

      Hi thedonishscienceexperiment115,
      Lava lamps contain wax at the bottom and coloured water. When the wax gets heated by a lamp, it expands and become lighter than the water around it and therefore will rise to the top of the container. At the top, the wax cools down again, making it contract and become heavier than the water which makes it sink.
      Check out this video that explains this much better than me!
      http://science.discovery.com/videos/deconstructed-how-lava-lamps-work.html

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