Warming Up

"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck) 07/13/2017 at 12:02 • Filed to: None

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Yea, I have a lava lamp on my desk. It does some crazy stuff as it warms up. I guess I’m easily entertained.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > TheRealBicycleBuck 07/13/2017 at 12:08

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Interesting how those things work. My understanding is that there are two substances insoluble relative to each other and very close in viscosity.

XJDano > TheRealBicycleBuck 07/13/2017 at 12:16

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Pretty sure it’s just a wax and colored water. When the wax heats it’s a liquid and strange how it cools at the top enough to drop it back down and the metal coil at the bottom heats enough the penetrate the way to absorb into the base wax and then heat and rise.

I need to get mine out of the basement for the kids to watch.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 07/13/2017 at 12:27

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*density. Close density, but different expansion coefficient.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 07/13/2017 at 12:30

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Pedant. ;o)

TheRealBicycleBuck > XJDano 07/13/2017 at 12:33

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You are correct. The shape of the glass has a lot to do with the cooling effect. Having it narrow at the top gives the glass more surface area to radiate heat, cooling the liquids inside. The metal coil at the bottom helps distribute the heat from the light bulb and provides something to break the surface tension in the wax, making it easier for the wax blobs to merge on the bottom.

When the lamp is cool enough for the wax towers to form, individual blobs of hotter wax will move  inside the wax tower. That’s my favorite stage.

Since there is an a/c vent blowing directly on my desk, the performance of the lamp changes throughout the day and the year. When it’s too cold for it to work properly, I place a styrofoam coffee cup over the top to help the lamp warm up.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 07/13/2017 at 12:35

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Your understanding is mostly correct. Wax + water + hot light bulb + metal coil, all in a specially shaped lamp. The warm wax is very close to water in specific density, not viscosity.

https://www.homesciencetools.com/a/liquid-density-lava-lamp-newsletter

OPPOsaurus WRX > TheRealBicycleBuck 07/13/2017 at 13:31

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dont put one in the microwave. there are plenty of youtube videos if you are curious. I’m waiting for my ‘mancave’ so I can display my lava lamp again.

Klaus Schmoll > TheRealBicycleBuck 07/13/2017 at 13:40

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My friends and I always call this the alien embryo stage.

jonny11quest > XJDano 07/13/2017 at 14:36

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Had one leak once... so of course I tasted it. Caveman instincts and all. Didn’t taste like water, but could just be the coloring that messed with the taste.