This is the ultimate place for you all lava lamp crazy people and people who are new to this lava venture. If you are an amatuer or even a professional in this field, my tips could be of some help to ya'all.
First of all, This site is strictly dedicated towards people who are seriously interested in making their own lava lamps and have failed. My tips could also help you if you are struggling with your lamps. If you've done a Google or an altavista search on the internet about 'making lava lamps', you may have come across sites like http://www.ozzinggoo.com . And after having a good look in these sites, you might have even tried their formulas. If you succeeded with their formulas, I would consider you to be lucky. That's because none of their methods worked for me. So I have devised my own method, which is a mixture of all the formulas. I'm not saying that it is the best method, but it sure does work. You can even look at the picture to the left to see what I'm talking about.
The History:
About two months ago, I was approached by my friend(Prasanna) and he told me he wanted to make a lava lamp just like the one we'd seen in Morning View Sessions( Incubus ). Believe it or not, I didn't know what lava lamps were. I'd just seen them somewhere but didn't know what they were called. Anyways, it took us about two months to crack the secrets of making a genuine looking lava lamp like the one you see above. Doesn't it look great??
The Principles: (if you know them, you can skim through and read other materials that could be helpful)
How do lava lamps work?
This must've been the first thing that popped in your mind the first time you saw one at a store or at your friends place. And, the principle is simple. " TWO FLUIDS (liquids to be specific) THAT ARE IMMISCIBLE, AND ONE HEAVIER THAN THE OTHER, PLACED INSIDE A BOTTLE WHICH IS HEATED FROM THE BOTTOM. THE HEAVIER EXPANDS AFTER GETTING HEATED AND STARTS TO RISE FORMING BLOBS WHICH ARE A FEAST FOR THE EYES." And YES! being a lamp, the bulb is also used to heat the liquid. BUT one thing must be taken into consideration. The viscousity(thickness) of the heavier liquid should be more than the other one or you could just say high. This is because after the heavier liquid gets heated, the molecules at the top should be able to grab its neighbour molecules when it is about to rise. This creates that blob which we want. If the heavier liquid is not viscous, no movement takes place no matter how much heat we supply. You can have a look at the diagrams I've drawn below :
(If you don't know the principles of viscous liquids, please refer to your science books)
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