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This media resource contains experiments that may require adult supervision.

Elliot and the Surfing Scientist: Make a lava lamp model using oil and water

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Person looks at drinking glass full of water and green gooey liquid
Elliot and the Surfing Scientist: Make a lava lamp model using oil and water

SUBJECTS:  Science

YEARS:  5–6, 7–8


Imagine making your very own lava lamp using materials from your kitchen and bathroom.

Watch the Surfing Scientist team show you how it can be done, then try and figure out why it works.


Things to think about

  1. 1.Oil and water don't mix because they have different densities. What is meant by density? What would happen if you poured a small amount of cooking oil into a glass of water? Which is the less dense liquid? How do you know?
  2. 2.Observe what happens when the cooking oil is poured onto the water. Check out whether the food colouring dyes the oil or not. Spot what the effervescent tablets react with to make the bubbles of gas. Notice what happens to the size of the globules over time.
  3. 3.Adding the effervescent tablets to water produces carbon dioxide gas. Describe the movement of the gas bubbles that form globules. What happens to the globules when they reach they surface? Why do the globules sink?
  4. 4.Place equal amounts of cooking oil and water in a small jar and screw the lid tight. Shake the mixture vigorously and then set the jar down and watch what happens. Ask an adult for an effervescent tablet to help you do your experiment, then add it to your mixture. Observe what happens. Explain your observations to someone else.


Acknowledgements

Image credit: 'Lava Lamps', courtesy Mike Mozart (Flickr).


Production Date: 2008


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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