Lava Lamp Science
Well the title says it all! We have been Flat out like lizards drinking over the past few weeks! Sorry we haven't had a chance to post regularly, but here are a few highlights of the last two weeks!
In Science this term, we have been continuing to investigate mystery mixtures and materials. We have been doing a number of experiments to find out how different ingredients react when mixed together.
Mrs S came in once again to help us with some crazy science! We got to make really cool lava lamps! We started by making a hypothesis about what we thought would happen during each step of the method. Here are some:
'When the oil gets poured in with the water, I think it will look a bit yellow and smell strongly of oil. As soon as the food colouring is in, it will change the appearance and turn orange. When the tablet is added, I think it will go a bit fizzy and make bubbles' ......by Claire
'I predict that the water will mix with the oil and it will be the same colour as the oil. I think that the oil and the water and blue food colouring will make it blue. When the tablet is added, it will go fizzy'......by Hailey....
'I think when you pour the oil in, it will not mix with the water. then when you add the food colouring the water will turn green. Then when the tablet hits the water it will dissolve and bubble until the tablet is gone'......By Abby
Here is the equipment we needed and the method we followed:
Check out what actually happened!!!
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| Professor Abby and Professor Lachlan writing their observations of the oil, water and food colouring |
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| Professor Mikayla enjoying the colour show in the bottom of her bottle. We found it VERY interesting that the food colouring did not mix with the oil. |
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| Professor Leo and Professor Claire jotting down important scientific notes. |
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| Professor Dale rocking the safety glasses! |
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| Professor Danica....looking very bubbly after dropping the asprin tablet in...... |
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| Professor Isabelle about to drop the asprin tablet in! |
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| Pretty blue bubbles.....hmmmm I wonder what is causing these bubbles to rise then fall...? |
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| Mrs M got a little bit excited, so we went outside to see what would happen if we dropped 4 asprin tablets into our lava lamps......... |
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| What a MESS! |
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Lots of bubbly science fun!
After carrying out our investigation and observations. Mrs S helped to explain what was actually happening with out mixture. We found that oil is hydrophobic (which means it doesn't like mixing with water). This is because it has a lower density than water, this is why no matter which way you hold your lava lamp bottle the water stays on the bottom and the oil stays on the top.
The food colouring and the tablet will also not mix with the oil (that is why they 'sink' straight through the oil into the water). When the tablet reaches the water it begins to dissolve and starts to release gas. This gas rises to the top of the bottle and takes some of the coloured water with it (forming the 'bubbles' in the oil). The gas escapes when it reaches the top of the bottle and the coloured water falls back down......pretty cool huh?
Happy experimenting! Love Tremendous T4 |
