Make lava lamp yourself with effervescent tablets - DIY instructions

• DIY guide
• Function of the DIY lava lamp

In the 70s she became a cult object: the lava lamp. And rightly so. Lava lamps are exciting and soothing at the same time, especially for children. Therefore, we would like to show in this guide how you can make a lava lamp yourself with simple home remedies.

Of course, it would be a huge mess and not less effort to build a lava lamp itself with bulbs and cables. Therefore, we would like to present you an experiment for children, with which you can achieve almost the same effect. You do not need much for this foolproof DIY tutorial, as you'll see.

You need for the lava lamp:

• Glass bottle or empty mason jars
• Stir bar or long spoon
• Liquid food coloring or deco aqua color
• Water (about 50 ml)
• Clear baby oil (about 300 ml)
• Effervescent tablets (for example, vitamin tablets)

DIY guide

Step 1: Start by pouring the water into the bottle or mason jar. It should not be too much, as additional oil will be added.

2nd step: Now the water is colored. Add some deco aqua color or liquid food color to the water and stir well with a stir bar or a long spoon.

Note: You can of course also mix colors to get a special color. As an alternative to food coloring, so-called Deco Aqua color can also be used.

Step 3: Then add the clear baby oil. It should be so much that the water layer is smaller and the oil layer reaches at least twice as much. Of course, this is only recognizable when the oil has settled slowly above the water. So wait a moment to be able to estimate the exact amount or measure everything with a measuring cup. After adding the oil, wait until the oil settles completely on top of the colored water.

Step 4: Now put an effervescent tablet in the bottle. This will sink to the bottom of the bottle and eventually dissolve. This effect causes air bubbles to rise from bottom to top - the water begins to bubble. Since the water is colored, then colored bubbles are visible in the oil. The effect lasts until the tablet has completely dissolved. If that is the case, the next one can be thrown directly. Close the bottle used with a cap or glass carafes used, as in our example, with the corresponding lid, so that these decanters can be well closed.

Tip: The effervescent tablets often bubble so much that it is sufficient to gradually add smaller portions of the effervescent tablet. Break an effervescent tablet with your fingers into several smaller pieces. With the addition of vitamin effervescent tablets, the initially mixed color changes a bit, so do not be surprised if the color of the homemade lava lamp changes during the effervescence of the effervescent tablets.

The DIY lava lamp is done!

Function of the DIY lava lamp

Due to their chemical properties, water and oil do not mix to a single liquid. Oil floats on water - so in this experiment, two layers in the bottle form - an oil layer and a water layer. The colored water collects on the ground while the oil rises higher. This is due to the different density of the two substances.

Oil has a lower density than water and is therefore lighter. This causes it to rise while the heavier water sinks down. The consequence is that oil and water never mix.

The effervescent tablets consist of three components: salt (sodium bicarbonate), citric acid and the special active ingredient (for example vitamin C). In conjunction with water, the ingredients dissolve. The carbonic acid in the salt is displaced by the citric acid, which leads to the air bubbles. These rise in the colored water and finally penetrate the clear oil layer. There the air bubbles are colored, because with them water is transported upwards. Finally, the bubbles burst and the water can escape from them and sink back to the bottom of the bottle.

Here our video | Instructions for "Making lava lamp yourself".