Raisin lava lamp

An easy way to make a lava lamp at home

Want to wow your kids with an in­cred­i­bly sim­ple lava lamp? Check out this quick and easy ex­per­i­ment!

Safe­ty pre­cau­tions

Warn­ing! Only un­der adult su­per­vi­sion.

Equip­ment

  • glass;
  • sparkling wa­ter;
  • raisins.

Step-by-step in­struc­tions

Care­ful­ly pour some car­bon­at­ed wa­ter into a glass. Toss in some mini raisins. The raisins be­gin to rise and fall – it looks like a lava lamp!

Process de­scrip­tion

Raisins have a rough sur­face. The car­bon diox­ide dis­solved in sparkling wa­ter is ac­tive­ly re­leased on this sur­face. Bub­bles of gas ac­cu­mu­late on the sur­face of the raisins and lift them up. As soon as they reach the sur­face, the bub­bles burst and the raisins fall. More car­bon diox­ide forms on their sur­faces, and the cy­cle re­peats.

Cool ex­per­i­ments are wait­ing for you in the MEL Chem­istry sub­scrip­tion!

Try it