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The 'lava' in a Lava Lamp is actually a chemically treated wax. The clear (sometimes colored) liquid is water. When the lamp is turned on the metal coil inside the glass chamber is heated by the light bulb. The reason it sinks and rises is because when the molecules inside the wax get heated up and speed up and expand. This causes them to become less dense than the water causing them to rise. When they are at the top the molecules slowly get colder and they slow down which makes them more dense than the water, so the wax sinks.

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Q: Why does Lava in a lava lamp rises and sinks?
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Related questions

How does convection works?

this is like warm, less dense air rises while cool more dense sinks. This is like the lava lamp the hot "lava" floats up to the top and and the cooler "lava" sinks down to the bottom and heats up and rises and the cooling stuff at the top is now sinking


What is the science behind a lava lamp?

A lava lamp is a pretty interesting thing, when it is cool, it looks like it's made of candle wax, because it is. Wax is strange, because when it is hot, it rises, but when it is cool, it sinks, so the bulb at the bottom heats the wax, and it floats to the top, but at the top, when it starts to cool down, it sinks. cool huh?


What is inside a lava lamp?

Inside a lava lamp there is wax.


What causes the movement of the liquid in a lava lamp?

Convection is when hot substances rise and cool ones sink. The colored wax heats up at the bottom of the lamp where the bulb is, then rises up, cools, and sinks again.


Is a lava lamp a compound or a mixture?

A Lava lamp is amixture of compounds.


What can you do to make a graph for an lava lamp?

how to make a graph for a lava lamp


Why do the blobs of wax rise and fall in a lava lamp?

Convection currents. The hot wax is less dense so it rises. When it reaches the top it begins to cool, becoming less dense and it sinks.


What are the results and conclusion of a lava lamp?

I am a former student and i did this project in the 7th grade and i got 1st place so the conclusion is that when the lava sinks and floats those are chemical reactions.


What size bulb does a lava lamp use?

It depends on the size of the lava lamp


What are the variables for homemade lava lamp?

what is the controlled variable in a homemade lava lamp


Why is there a spring in a lava lamp?

Well there is a metal springy at the bottom of your lava lamp, It helps heat the lava (wax) in the bottle.


Does a lava lamp deal with density?

No, it deals with lava