In 1963, Edward Craven Walker invented a colorful, bright, and soothing item called the lava lamp, or previously known as the “Astro Lamp”. It was inspired by an egg timer sitting on a kitchen stove filled with two liquids bubbling because they were unable to mix. He enhanced on this by making it into a radiant lamp that is still being used around the world today!
What is a lava lamp made of?
A lava lamp is made up of two components: a wax compound and a liquid compound (such as water). The concept behind lava lamps is putting together two things that don’t mix. Wax/oil and liquid compounds do not mix so when they’re put together, it starts to form blobs of colored wax and causes the lava lamp to flow. The wax becomes dense when it is heated by the light in the lamp so it sinks to the bottom. It then becomes lighter than the water and starts to float. When it reaches up to the top, it cools because it’s farther away from the light which causes it to sink again. This whole process repeats itself. The moving wax is similar to the lava that flows out of a volcano which is one reason why it’s called a “lava lamp”.
Water Molecule
Water is made up of molecules each
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Hydrocarbons are molecules that only comprise of hydrogen and carbon. The aliphatic hydrocarbons have three groups which are the alkanes, which contain single bonds, alkenes, which contain one double bond, and alkynes, which contain one triple bond. Wax is made from alkanes which means it’s mostly insoluble in water and holds a lot of hydrogen atoms. This goes for oil as well. Mineral oil contains many different hydrocarbons (10 to about 50 carbon atoms). Paraffins are one out of the three major classes of mineral oil hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbons and polar water molecules do not mix and because the hydrocarbons are not as dense as water, they just float on top of it. The light at the bottom of the lava lamp warms the hydrocarbon causing it to expand and