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Build Your Own Lava Lamp
Manip writes "My new project: 'The difficult part about making your own liquid motion lamp is, of course, the motion. We won't go into the lamp base too much. The store-bought ones use a 40w appliance bulb in a metal housing which directs the heat to the underside of the glass container. If you're making your own base, we recommend installing a dimmer switch so that you can control your heat output.'"
How hot can an AMD chip get again?...
US Democracy:The best person for the job (among These pre-selected choices...)
From: stormoen@sparc.isl.net (Stormoen MD)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs
Subject: Lava Lamp Plans Here.
Date: 13 Jan 1995 08:08:15 GMT
Message-ID:
I've had SEVERAL requests for the plans, so here they are.
Sorry, I guess I lost the name of the guy who gave 'em to me.
(I recieved two versions, and I liked this one best).
WARNING!! This electronic document deals with and involves subject matter and the use of materials and substances that may be hazardous to health and life. Do not attempt to implement or use the information contained herein unless you are experienced and skilled with respect to such subject matter, materials and substances. The author makes no representations as for the completeness or the accuracy of the information contained herein and disclaim any liability for damages or injuries, whether caused by or arising from the lack of completeness, inaccuracies of the information, misinterpretation of the directions, misapplication of the information or otherwise.
Please note: The information contained in this electronic document can be found in the 1992 Edition of Popular Electronics Electronics Hobbyists handbook, published annually by Gernsback Publications Inc, USA.
Inside a lava lamp are two immiscible fluids. If it is assumed that fluid 1 is water, then fluid 2 must be:
Furthermore, fluid 2 must not be:
In addition, fluid 2 must have a greater coefficient of expansion than water. Check a Perry's handbook of Chemical Engineering, and the above list eliminates quite a few possibilities.
Here is a list of possible chemicals to use:
If desired, use a suitable red oil-soluble dye to color fluid 2. A permanent felt-tip pen is a possible source. Break open the pen and put the felt in a beaker with fluid 2.
It is recommended to use benzyl alcohol as fluid 2. (Caution!! Do not come into contact with benzyl alcohol either by ingestion, skin, or inhalation.) In addition to water, the following items will be necessary:
The performance of the lava lamp will depend on the quality of the water used. A few experiments must be conducted to determine how much sodium chloride is necessary to increase the water's specific gravity. Try a 5% salt concentration first (50 g of salt to 1 liter of water). Pour the red-dyed benzyl alcohol mixture in a Pyrex beaker. Add an equal or greater amount of water
A computer engineering professor at my school made one out of a fishbowl. He used plexiglass and silicone to seal it shut, and built a small air compressor to evacuate the air from it.
Actually, while I was a waiting tables at a diner, I discovered that by putting cubes of jello in a glass of cold seltzer, you could create a minimalistic lava lamp. If the seltzer is cold enough, the jello won't melt, and the bubbles will adhere to the cubes, causing it float, and when it reaches the top, the bubbles will pop on the surface, leaving the jello to fall back down. Pretty neat trick to impress the customers, especially if you leave it sitting on the counter.