www.sciencebob.com
 HOME-MADE
VOLCANO!

You can print these instructions out by choosing "PRINT" from your browser.

To make an erupting volcano you will need:

  • A volcano - Talk to an art teacher about making a volcano out of paper mache or plaster. If you're in a hurry to make your volcano, use a mound of dirt outside.
  • A container that 35mm film comes in.
  • Red and yellow food coloring (optional)
  • Vinegar
  • Liquid dish washing soap

What to do:

  1. Go outside
  2. Put the film canister into the volcano at the top
  3. Add two spoonfuls of baking soda
  4. Add about a spoonful of soap
  5. Add about 3 drops of the red and yellow food coloring

    Now for the eruption!:
  6. Add about an ounce of the vinegar into the container and watch what happens.

 

A VOLCANO is produced over thousands of years as heat a pressure build up. That aspect of a volcano is very difficult to recreate in a home experiment. However this volcano will give you an idea of what it might look like when a volcano erupts flowing lava. This is a classic experiment in which a CHEMICAL reaction can create the appearance of a PHYSICAL volcano eruption. You should look at pictures of volcanoes to be familiar with the different types. (A SHIELD volcano, for example is the most common kind of volcano, and yet few people know about them) The reaction will bubble up and flow down the side like a real volcano (only much faster!) Look for videos of volcanoes erupting and be sure that you understand how heat and pressure work to really make volcanoes erupt. Have fun!

-Science Bob

The project above is a DEMONSTRATION. To make it a true experiment, you can try to answer these questions:

1. Does vinegar temperature affect how the volcano erupts?

2. Does the shape of the volcano affect the direction the eruption travels?

3. What home design protects it from lava the best? (build small model homes to test this)

4. What can be added to the "lava" to slow it down and make it more realistic?

5. What combination of vinegar and baking soda creates the biggest eruption?

See if you can come up with more VOLCANO experiments!