1. Lava Lamps
By: Maggie
Browning

2. History
 Lava lamps were
invented by Edward
Craven Walker in
1963.
 An ad for lava lamps in 1977

3. Basics
 A lava lamp basically
consists of an oily wax
and water.
 The wax is only slightly
denser than the water;
therefore it sinks when
the lamp is cool.
 When the lamp is
heated, the wax
expands and floats.

4. Chemistry
 The waxy substance and the water are incredibly
close in their densities.
 However, the wax is slightly denser.
 The fact that they are so close means that they are
immiscible compounds

5. Chemistry (cont.)
 The light bulb heats the
lamp up.
 When the lamp is
heated, the dense wax
expands and becomes
less dense than the
water it is in.
 Because it is no longer
the densest, it rises to
the top of the glass
section.
 When the wax is not
directly exposed to the
heat it cools, contracts,
and sinks back to the
bottom.

6. Paraffin
 The substance used in
the lamp is paraffin.
 Paraffin is a wax-like
hydrocarbon.
 The wax is not like
beeswax which is an
ester.
 The hydrocarbon used
here is likely to have
twenty to thirty carbons
in the molecule.Bees wax
Paraffin

7. Variations
 There are a few variations of the lava lamp which include a
colloid suspension.
 This kind of lamp uses heat the same way, to move the liquid
throughout the cylinder.
 Having the colloid gives the lamp “a swirling pearlescent effect”
 There are also glitter lava lamps, that use glitter instead of “lava”

8. Works Cited
 Chemical Information on Lava Lamps.
Contributing Writer, 2010. Web. 11 Apr. 2013.
<http://www.soyouwanna.com/chemical-
information-lava-lamps-1111.html>.
 "Everyday Chemistry-Lava Lamp." The Human
Touch of Chemistry. WATConsult, n.d. Web.
28 Apr. 2013.
<http://humantouchofchemistry.com/lava-
lamp.htm>.
 McClure, Mike. "Lava Lite: A Chemical
Juggling Act." Chem Matters Apr. 1997: 4-7.
Print.