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The year is 1973 and things are look pretty groovy. Bell bottoms,
8-track tapes and waterbeds are some of the most popular novelties
around. But today
we'll tkae an inside look on... oh yes... could it be? LAVA LAMPS!
Okay, I'm sure everyone at one point catches themselves staring
at the joyous colorful jar of groovyness. but today, I'm investigating
on what Lava Lamps are made of and how they work.
Special thanks to http://www.howstuffworks.com and
http://www.ask.yahoo.com
for providing the information in this article.
First of all, we need a compound that is immiscible in another.
Immiscible means that the compounds will repel each other, so they
won't mix. That's how the goo is made.
When a lava lamp's light is turned off, the immiscible compound
rises upward and then becomes flat. This is because one compound is
heavier than the other. What are these compounds you ask? The blobs are
made out of "solidified globules of mineral oil, and are coloured with
paraffin wax, or petroleum jell." And are surrounded in water.
And now you know what the lava lamp is made out of. But if they're
immiscible, then how do the colorful
blobs go up AND down? I'll tell you how.
Petroleum jelly and water are very similar in weight; this allows
them to shift every now and then, based on the weight and size of the
blobs as they collide and merge.
So there you have it folks! A curious mind can discover many,
many amazing things.
I'm hand11, your Science Investigator, plugging in
the lava lamp.
You stay groovy, Whyville.
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