No matter how much you shake or stir your dressing, they will never stay mixed together.īut chocolate syrup molecules are attracted to milk molecules. The molecules in oil are more attracted to each other than to the molecules in the vinegar.
It all depends on the force of attraction between the molecules in the two liquids.įor example, what happens when you try to mix oil and vinegar - like in a salad dressing? The molecules in the vinegar are more attracted to each other than to the molecules in oil. The chocolate syrup mixes completely with the milk to form yummy chocolate milk!īut some liquids are immiscible. That means they can mix to form a homogeneous mixture. So why don’t the globs of wax in a lava lamp mix with the surrounding liquid? How does the ability to mix affect how a lava lamp works?Ĭhocolate milk on the left and salad dressing on the right (Sources: Mae Mu via Unsplash and wwing via iStockphoto). Hot air balloons work the same way as the globs in the lava lamp. The globs become less dense than the surrounding liquid. But when you turn the lamp on, the globs heat up. That’s why they sit at the bottom of the lamp. And the objects that are less dense than water float.īut what does this have to do with lava lamps? Remember the globules - let’s call them “globs” for short - that float around? At room temperature, the globs are a bit denser than the surrounding liquid. The objects that are denser than water sink. And you’ve probably noticed that other objects, like twigs, float on water. Have you ever thrown a coin into a fountain or a rock into a pond? You probably noticed that these objects sink in water. Density refers to how much matter there is in a given volume of space.
Kinetic molecular theory can help you understand density. How Is Kinetic Energy Related to Density? The molecules in gases have the most energy of all. That means they move more slowly than molecules in liquids and gases. The molecules in solids have the least energy. There are three most common states of matter. And when they have more energy, they move faster.
When it’s hotter, molecules have more energy. The amount of energy depends on the temperature. It states that all matter is made up of molecules that are always moving. To understand how lava lamps work, you have to understand Kinetic Molecular Theory. The three states of matter are solids, liquids and gases (© 2019 Let’s Talk Science). Open Professional Learning × Close Professional Learning Open Educational Resources × Close Educational Resources
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