volcano eruption experiment without vinegar

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Homemade Volcano Alternative to Baking Soda & Vinegar

How to Make a Volcano Out of Cardboard

Homemade volcanoes are a fun activity for children to learn about chemistry. They do create a mess though, so be careful where you conduct these experiments. Baking soda mixed with vinegar are the classic ingredients for this science fair project favorite activity. Homemade volcano alternatives to baking soda and vinegar are often other ingredients that can be found around the house or at least at a local grocery store. By playing around with the proportions of ingredients in each of the following combinations, you can alternate the powerfulness and length of the volcanic eruption.

Elephant Toothpaste

Elephant toothpaste is named so because the resulting eruption looks like an elephant's trunk squeezing out toothpaste. To make elephant toothpaste, mix concentrated hydrogen peroxide with any brand of liquid soap. Add red food coloring for a colorful lava illusion. When the hydrogen peroxide breaks down quickly it releases a lot of oxygen. This oxygen mixes with the dish soap, causing a lot of bubbles to form. In order to break down the hydrogen peroxide, a catalyst must be added to the mixture. Catalysts can be potassium iodine, manganese dioxide or potassium sulfate. Each will create a different speed of hydrogen peroxide decomposition, creating either a more subtle stream or a more dramatic explosion.

Mentos candies combined with diet cola will result in a powerful explosion. The soda can spray feet up in the air and will create a sticky mess. If you can find a red, carbonated soda this might work better to mimic the color of lava in a volcano eruption. As soon as the candies are dropped into the 2-liter soda bottle, it will begin to erupt. The eruption is due to the gelatin and gum arabic from the candy dissolving in the soda, causing immediate bubbles due to a release of oxygen from the carbon dioxide of the soda.

Instead of using vinegar, use ketchup with baking soda. This is perfect for a volcano effect because the ketchup is already the right color. You can also add liquid dish soap to create more bubbles and foam in the eruption. Add water to create the desired thickness for the lava. This will create a long-lasting eruption rather than a powerful jet of an eruption. The creation of carbon dioxide gas, by the mixture of the ketchup and baking soda is what causes the eruption.

Salt and soda works in a similar way to the mentos and diet coke option. The eruption will be much less drastic. Carbon dioxide in sparkling drinks reacts with water and forms carbonic acid which then forms the bubbles. These bubbles form around edges, sometimes seemingly invisible edges in a glass. Salt is formed by small crystals with multiple edges, so that the carbonic acid has many places to react with the water and form more bubbles. In this case, the lava will be fizzy and less dramatic, but equally messy and entertaining.

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• Steve Spanglers Science: Mentos Diet Coke Geyser
• Science Fair Adventure: Mentos Soda Volcano
• Using Hydrogen Peroxide: Elephant Toothpaste

About the Author

Sefira Fialkoff began her journalism career working at "The Hartford Courant" in 2004 and has since worked for "The Good Times" and "The Santa Cruz Sentinel." She holds a Bachelor of Arts in global economics from the University of California at Santa Cruz.

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5 Ways to Make a Volcano

There is more than one way to make a chemical volcano. Actually, there are several methods. Here are some of the best, from the tried-and-true baking soda and vinegar volcano to the most exotic dry ice volcano.

Make the Volcano Cone

You can use a bottle or can or really any container for your volcanic eruption, but it’s easy to make the volcano shape by coating your container with clay or papier mache. Here is a simple recipe for a homemade clay volcano:

• 6 cups flour
• 2 cups salt
• 2 cups water
• 4 tablespoons cooking oil
• Mix the ingredients together in a large bowl. It’s easiest if you stir the flour, salt, and oil together first and then mix in the water. You can add more water if needed. You want a firm, smooth dough.
• Stand an empty soda bottle or can in a pie tin or baking pan (so your ‘lava’ won’t make a mess) and mold the dough into a volcano shape. Be sure you don’t drop dough into the bottle or cover the opening.
• If you want to paint the volcano, wait until the dough is dry.

Now for the recipes! Most use common ingredients that you have at home.

Baking Soda and Vinegar Volcano

This is the classic science fair project volcano. The baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) reacts with the vinegar (weak acetic acid) to produce carbon dioxide gas. The detergent traps the gas, which is heavier than air, so it flows down the side of the volcano.

• liquid dishwashing detergent
• red or orange food coloring
• baking soda
• Pour warm water into the volcano until it is 1/2 to 3/4 of the way full.
• Add several drops of food coloring.
• Add a squirt of detergent. This helps the ‘lava’ foam up and flow.
• Add a couple of spoonfuls of baking soda.
• When you are ready to start the eruption, pour vinegar into your volcano.
• You can recharge the volcano with more baking soda and vinegar.

Note: If you don’t have vinegar, you can use another acidic liquid, like lemon juice or orange juice.

Yeast and Peroxide Volcano

• packet of quick-rise yeast
• hydrogen peroxide (3% sold in stores or can use 6% from beauty supply stores)
• food coloring
• Pour the hydrogen peroxide solution into the volcano until it is nearly full. The 3% household peroxide is safe to handle, but wear gloves and use extreme caution if you use the 6% peroxide, which can give you chemical burns!
• Add several drops of food coloring for your lava.
• When you are ready for the eruption, add the packet of yeast to the volcano.

Ketchup and Vinegar Volcano

This volcano bubbles and oozes lava. The eruption is not so dramatic, but is interesting and long-lasting. The acidity of the vinegar and tomatoes in the ketchup reacts with the baking soda to produce carbon dioxide gas, which gets trapped as bubbles by the detergent.

• dishwashing liquid
• Mix together ketchup, warm water, and a squirt of detergent to make lava.
• Pour the mixture into the volcano so it is nearly full.
• When you are ready for the eruption, add baking soda.

Mentos and Diet Soda Volcano

This volcano erupts instantly and spectacularly. For a truly memorable volcano, use diet tonic water instead of diet cola and shine a black light on the volcano. This produces a vivid blue glowing eruption!

• diet soda (regular soda works too, but produces a sticky mess)
• Mentos candies
• Fill the volcano full of soda (or you could have molded the volcano around a full soda bottle.
• When you are ready for the eruption, drop all of the Mentos candies into the mouth of the bottle at once. One easy way to do this is to roll a sheet of paper around the candies, put your finger beneath them to hold them in place, and release the candies over the hole. Be prepared for a major splash!

Dry Ice Volcano

This volcano appears to smoke, releasing a cascade of bubble lava.

• Fill the volcano with warm water.
• Add a bit of dishwashing liquid.
• When you are ready to start the eruption, use gloves or tongs to drop a piece of dry ice into the volcano.

Do you need more ways to make a volcano ? You can bake a souffle to model the geological processes or make a realistic wax volcano .

Related Posts

Volcano Eruption

(no – not vinegar and bi-carb).

Here is a great way for you to make a enormous eruption, better than the old vinegar and bi-carb trick.  Send an email  to the Science Boffins and tell us what you think of it. Great to use at science parties.

This experiment is one that you can perform safely at home, but you still need that big adult beside you to make sure that nothing goes wrong.

WARNING:  Hydrogen Peroxide is corrosive. Although the strengths that are available in the High Street should not be dangerous you still need to observe caution. Wear gloves, goggles and protective clothing when handling the Hydrogen Peroxide. Any splashes in your eyes should be washed out with copious amounts of cold water and splashes on the skin should be washed with lots of cold water. Seek medical advice. Clean away any spillages. Do not leave chemicals in sight or reach of young children.

OK so much for the warnings, now for the fun…

Requirements:.

• Small (500ml/16 oz.) empty plastic soda bottle (preferably with a narrow neck such as those made by Coca-Cola)
• 1/2 cup 20-volume Hydrogen Peroxide (20-volume is 6% solution, purchased from Boots or other chemist)
• A good squirt of dish detergent like Fairy Liquid
• About 10 drops of food colouring
• 1 heaped teaspoon yeast dissolved in 4 tablespoons very warm water
• Foil cake pan with 2 inch sides (not really necessary if you can leave a mess of foam behind, like in a garden)
• Lab goggles, gloves and protective clothing

Hydrogen Peroxide is H²O², that is like water (H²O) but with an extra oxygen atom in each molecule. H is the chemical symbol for Hydrogen and O is the symbol for Oxygen. H² means 2 atoms of Hydrogen and yes, you guessed it O² means 2 atoms of Oxygen. O just by itself means 1 atom of Oxygen. So water is made up of 2 Hydrogen atoms and 1 Oxygen atom and when atoms join together, they are called a molecule.

The yeast is used as a catalyst to bubble the extra oxygen out of the solution. The Fairy Liquid is to encapsulate the oxygen so that it can be seen and the food colour is to make it more visual. Sources indicate that Hydrogen Peroxide can deteriorate with prolonged storage. It is best to use a bottle with a narrow neck because it constricts the cross-section of the flow and therefore increases the flow rate. a funnel is necessary if you don’t have a steady hand.

• Pour about half a bottle of Peroxide into the empty bottle. You don’t have to be exact.
• Squirt in dish detergent
• Add food colour
• Give it all a good swirl/mix around
• Add yeast. Excess yeast is no harm. The yeast can be made up before hand. The hot water is to activate the yeast. There is no data explaining how long the yeast will continue to be suitable for but it has been used 2 days after activation in hot water with no downside.

The foam is neutral and harmless but it may discolour clothes. Food dye should wash out.

Learn the word “ Catalyst “. One mnemonic that could be used is to make a list of the names of cats. The best cats names go on the “A” list otherwise known as the CAT-A-LIST etc. Or choose any other way you like.

A catalyst is a substance that initiates or accelerates a chemical reaction without itself being affected.

By way of example:  Have you got a brother or sister? Suppose that you are having an argument and your brother or sister gets annoyed and throws something at you. You are quick enough to duck and the object smashes the window. Mum asks “Did you do that” and you can safely say “No” without lying. But you were a Catalyst – you made it happen although you did not throw it.

Repeat, the resulting foam is not hazardous except for the staining. If you feel it is vulnerable, wash down the foam.

Depending on your mix you may produce copious amounts of foam. It may be that a deep pan is not enough to contain the foam. If this is the case, restrict your Volcano Eruption experiment to outside.

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Monday, February 3, 2014

No-vinegar volcano science experiment.

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The Beauty of The Life

How To Make A Volcano Without Baking Soda

Introduction

Have you ever wanted to make a volcano but didn’t have baking soda on hand? Maybe you just want to try a different method. Well, you’re in luck because in this tutorial, we’ll teach you how to make a volcano without baking soda.

Materials Needed

Before we get started, let’s gather the materials we need. You’ll need:

• A small plastic bottle
• Playdough or clay
• A small container
• Red and yellow food coloring

Step 1: Build Your Volcano

Take the plastic bottle and place it in the center of the small container. Use the playdough or clay to build up around the bottle, creating a volcano shape. Make sure the bottle is secure and won’t tip over.

Step 2: Add the Lava

In a separate container, mix together 1/4 cup of vinegar, a squirt of dish soap, and a few drops of red and yellow food coloring. Stir the mixture gently to avoid creating too many bubbles.

Step 3: Erupt the Volcano

Pour the mixture into the bottle and watch the eruption happen. You may need to add more vinegar to get the desired effect.

Step 4: Clean Up

After the eruption, use warm water to clean out the bottle and container. You can reuse the playdough or clay for your next experiment.

Tips for Success

• Use a small plastic bottle to create a more controlled eruption.
• Experiment with different amounts of vinegar and dish soap to get the desired effect.
• Add more food coloring to create a more realistic lava color.

Easy Volcano Eruption Experiment for Kids (3 Methods & Beautiful Results)

• August 19, 2019
• 3-4 Year Olds , 5-6 Year Olds , Chemistry , Fizzy Science , Outdoors , Taste-safe

Are you looking for an easy fun and intellectual science experiment for your kid’s science fair!? If yes, then you are on the right page where you will get three easy simple and super fun experiments that works better as a science project. What’s that!? It’s a ‘Volcano making’ at home with your kids.

After watching a documentary on television regarding volcanoes, aroused an interest to create fake volcanoes. Immediately I shared my idea with my girls of 5 and 7 years old. They were very excited by listening the name itself. That is how I started experimenting this super fun activity at home.

Method-1: Making Volcano using Baking Soda and Vinegar

You will need few simple things that you can find in your home or stores easily. The supplies required to mimic the lava that of a real volcano are listed below:

• Baking soda
• Food colouring (your preferred color)
• Dish wash soap
• Volcano mold (you can create one using play dough)
• Kids toys (optional)

[*Product links are affiliate links. Your support is highly appreciated]

1) Take a ready-made Volcano or you can make it at home using plastic bottles. Fill the volcano with white marble stones to give it a colorful look as well as kids can get better view on the white background.

2) You can also decorate around the volcano with some kid’s toys to make it more attractive and catchy. Adding kid’s toys to the volcano also grabs kid’s attention as toys are never boring for any kids or even adults. J

3) Find some private space since the volcano eruption makes a mess. As we are using ready-made volcano plate, hopefully the mess is only inside the plate.

4) Do some preparations or trials before you start the actual experiment in order to learn proper amounts of ingredients that decide how big your volcano should be!

5) Now my elder daughter Prithika added required amount of baking soda (one of the magical ingredients) into the volcano. She is always interested in adding ingredients. In one way, it helps her to learn more about mixing and measurement concepts.

Now let us jump into the second method of making homemade volcano which is as simple as first method.

Method 2 Volcano in the bowls using same ingredients

• Soap liquid
• Food colour
• Bowls (make sure the bowls are neatly washed as the volcano is not formed if there are any other chemical substances which may get react and form other reactions)

1) Take four bowls and arrange them neatly on the work table or work place. It is suggested to take the bowls in a wide and big plate so that the eruption will flow or spread wide area and be within the plate.

2) Add different food colours to four different bowls so that it gives different coloured volcanoes. My daughters are excited to add their favorite colours. In fact this is their most favorite step in every activity we does (if there are chances to add any colours while experimenting).

This is the simple and easiest way to attract or fascinate the people at the science fair.

Method 3 Creating Volcano experiment with Lemon

Make lemon volcanoes (ideal experiment) along with your kids using kitchen ingredients. The end result is wonderful that leaves a surprise on kid’s face. This is another easiest method to create colorful volcano using lemons. Let us see how we can amaze children using lemon.

Materials required

All you need are:

• Tray or a white plate
• Cutting knife or Butter knife
• Spoon or Fork
• Food coloring

Instructions

1) Take a medium sized lemon and cut into 3/4 th using butter or cutting knife.

2) Squeeze out the seeds and some lemon juice (leaving some juice) with the help of spoon or fork.

3) Add few drops of food colour to the inside of the lemon. Choose some bright colours to see bright and colourful lemon volcanoes. We used red orange and yellow food colours to get orange-red lava! Kids enjoyed watching bright display of volcanoes.  

4) Put some baking soda on top of the lemon to see the amazing results.

5) Use spoon or fork to let the baking soda inside the lemon.

As soon as you add the baking soda to the lemon, there happens a chemical reaction again between the lemons (acidic in nature) and the baking soda (base). This chemical reaction leaves a gas known as carbon dioxide which is responsible for the frothing and fizzing of the eruption coming out of the lemon.

A volcano is a typically conical mountain or hill that has lava coming out from a magma chamber under the surface of the ground. The materials include in the volcano are lava, gaseous sulfur compounds, steam, heat, broken rock pieces and ash. The volcano erupts and explodes all these materials out when there are right conditions like high temperature and pressure.

However, in our home experiment of creating fake volcano gives an idea of how a volcano looks like when the lava erupts. This is a simple classic science experiment works based on a chemical reaction and showing physical volcano eruption. The chemical reaction is nothing but a reaction between the baking soda and vinegar results in the release of a gas called carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is the same gas which is used in sodas for the purpose of carbonation. You can observe the same reaction what you see when the soda bottle is shaken up and remove the bottle cap. The pressure created while shaking make the gas molecules to spread out as there is no enough space to spread, it comes out of the bottle when the cap is opened. In the same way, the carbon dioxide released (because of the chemical reaction between baking soda and vinegar) builds up enough pressure inside the volcano finally results in the eruption in order to exit the bubbles.

In other words, the chemical reaction between baking soda and vinegar is said to be an ‘Acid-Base Reaction’. Because the chemical reaction is happening between the acetic acid (vinegar) and a base (sodium bicarbonate). The acetic acid (a weak acid) reacts with and neutralizes the base ( sodium bicarbonate ). The gas released during the reaction is the carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is the main culprit for the fizzing and bubbling of the wonderful ‘eruption’.

This project takes not more than 30 minutes to complete. I could say that it is a classic science experiment because kids will get to learn chemical reactions and observe what is happening when a volcano erupts. Sounds cool right!!? Did you know the carbon dioxide gas released during the experiment is also present or produced during real volcanoes!! Hope you all enjoyed to learn about colorful fake volcanoes in three different methods. Happy experiment!!

Some Q&A for your interaction with kids

In our experiment, baking soda and vinegar are the magic ingredients to create a volcano at home. When the baking is combined with the vinegar, there happens a chemical reaction producing a gas called carbon dioxide which causes a volcano to erupt (looks similar to the real volcano eruption). The carbon dioxide gas creates pressure to throw out the gas bubbles inside the volcano thus exit the volcano like real ones.

We always have to be very careful while adding ingredients in right amounts in order to get our wonderful results. We may not get our desired results if we miss to add right amounts of ingredients. In our experiment, we require 2 table spoons of baking soda to mix in 1/4th cup of vinegar to erupt a beautiful volcano at home.

Take your chemical volcano project to the next level and make it more exciting by creating glowing volcano. For a glowing lava, use tonic water instead of vinegar and a black light. You can also use both the ingredients i.e. take equal quantities of vinegar and tonic water to make erupting glowing volcano under a black light. Tonic water consists of fluorescent compound called quinine, which is responsible for glowing volcano eruption. The other way to create glowing volcano is to wrap the volcano around the tonic water bottle and just drop the Mentos candies into the bottle. You can see the amazing glowing volcano at home. One more method to see colorful glowing volcano is to mix the chlorophyll with vinegar. The chlorophyll when expose to ultra violet light, starts glowing in red. Hence, you can see the red glowing volcano.

You see a lot of bubbling and foaming while erupting volcano. Formation of bubbles and foam is due to the combination of baking soda and vinegar. When the baking soda (a base, sodium bicarbonate) is mixed with the vinegar solution (an acid), there happens a chemical reaction releasing a gas known as carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide is unstable and fills the volcano with a lot of bubbles. Due to the pressure builds up in the volcano due to carbon dioxide gas, the gas bubbles gets exit the volcano like a real volcano eruption.

Both the ingredients are responsible for the chemical reaction because baking soda is a base (called sodium bicarbonate) reacts with the vinegar, an acid producing carbon dioxide.

According to the studies, using baking soda is completely safe since it is mild and unscented for kids. Baking soda has both the alkaline and antiseptic properties that soothes the acidic nature of skin and protects it from infections. It tastes bitter so kids obviously would not like to put in their mouth. However, it is always good to take extra care while using baking soda very often.

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Science News Explores

Study acid-base chemistry with at-home volcanoes.

Baking soda volcanoes are a fun demonstration, and with a few tweaks they can be an experiment, too

A few kitchen chemicals can give you an at home volcano. But you’re going to need more than one volcano for an experiment.

PeopleImages/E+/Getty Images

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• Google Classroom

By Bethany Brookshire

October 7, 2020 at 6:30 am

This article is one of a series of  Experiments  meant to teach students about how science is done, from generating a hypothesis and designing an experiment to analyzing the results with statistics. You can repeat the steps here and compare your results — or use this as inspiration to design your own experiment.

It’s a science fair staple: the baking soda volcano. This simple demonstration is easy to do. That clay mountain “smoking” in front of a poster board can be kind of sad, though. The whole thing looks like it was put together the morning of the fair.

But it’s not too difficult to turn this easy science demo into a science experiment. All that’s needed is a hypothesis to test — and more than one volcano.

A baking soda volcano’s foamy rush is the result of a chemical reaction between two solutions. One solution contains vinegar, dish soap, water and a little food coloring. The other is a mix of baking soda and water. Add the second solution to the first, stand back and watch what happens.

The reaction that occurs is an example of acid-base chemistry. Vinegar contains acetic acid . It has the chemical formula CH 3 COOH (or HC 3 H 2 O 2 ). When mixed with water, acetic acid loses a positively charged ion (H+). The positively charged protons in the water make the solution acidic. White vinegar has a pH of about 2.5.

Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. It has the chemical formula NaHCO 3.  It is a base , which means that when mixed with water, it loses a negatively charged hydroxide ion (OH-). It has a pH of about 8.

Acids and bases react together. The H+ from the acid and the OH- from the base come together to form water (H 2 O). In the case of vinegar and baking soda, this takes two steps. First the two molecules react together to form two other chemicals — sodium acetate and carbonic acid. The reaction looks like this:

NaHCO 3  + HC 2 H 3 O 2  → NaC 2 H 3 O 2  + H 2 CO 3

Carbonic acid is very unstable. It then breaks apart quickly into carbon dioxide and water.

H 2 CO 3  → H 2 O + CO 2

Carbon dioxide is a gas, which makes the water fizz like soda pop. If you add a little dish soap to your acid solution, the bubbles will catch in the soap. The reaction produces a big fwoosh of foam.

Acids and bases will react together until there are no excess H+ or OH- ions present. When all the ions of one type are all used up, the reaction is neutralized. This means that if you have a lot of vinegar, but very little baking soda (or vice versa), you’ll get a small volcano. Varying the ratio of ingredients can change the size of that reaction.  

This leads to my hypothesis — a statement I can test. In this case, my hypothesis is that more baking soda will produce a larger explosion .

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Blowing it up

To test this, I need to make volcanoes with different amounts of baking soda while the rest of the chemical reaction remains the same. The baking soda is my variable — the factor in the experiment that I am changing.

Here’s the recipe for a basic baking soda volcano:

• In a clean, empty 2-liter soda bottle, mix 100 milliliters (mL) of water, 400mL of white vinegar and 10mL of dish soap. Add a few drops of food coloring if you want to make your explosion a fun color.
• Place the bottle outside, on a sidewalk, driveway or porch. (Do not put it on grass. This reaction is safe, but it will kill the grass. I learned this the hard way.)
• Mix together half a cup of baking soda and half a cup of water. Pour the mix into the 2-liter bottle as quickly as you can and stand back!

(Safety note: It’s a good idea to wear gloves, sneakers and eye protection such as glasses or safety goggles for this experiment. Some of these ingredients can be uncomfortable on your skin, and you don’t want to get them in your eyes.)

To turn this demonstration into an experiment, I’ll need to try this again, with three different amounts of baking soda. I started small — with just 10 mL, mixed with 40 mL of water. My middle dose was 50 mL of baking soda mixed with 50 mL of water. For my last amount, I used 100 mL of baking soda, mixed with about 50 mL of water. (Baking soda has a similar volume and mass, in that 10mL of baking soda weighs about 10 grams, and so on. This meant I could weigh the baking soda on a scale rather than have to measure it by volume.) I then made five volcanoes with each amount of baking soda, for a total of 15 volcanoes.

The explosion happens very quickly — too fast to mark its height accurately on a wall or yardstick. But once the eruption happens, the foam and water fall outside the bottle. By weighing the bottles before and after the reaction, and adding in the mass of the baking soda and water solution, I can calculate how much mass got ejected from each eruption. I could then compare the mass lost to show if more baking soda produced a larger explosion.

When I used only 10 grams of baking soda, the bottles lost 17 grams of mass on average. The eruptions were so small that most never made it out of the bottle. When I used 50 grams of baking soda, the bottles lost 160 grams of mass on average. And when I used 100 grams of baking soda, the bottles lost almost 350 grams of mass.

But that’s not quite the whole story. Because I added different amounts of baking soda and water to the bottles, there might not be as big of a difference here as I think. The extra mass from the 100-gram bottles, for instance, could just be because the reaction started out heavier.

To rule that out, I converted my numbers to the percent of mass lost. The 10-gram bottles lost only about three percent of their mass. The 50-gram bottles lost 25 percent of their mass, and the 100-gram bottles lost more than half of their mass.

To confirm that these results are different, I need to run statistics. These are tests that will help me interpret my results. For this, I have three different amounts of baking soda that I need to compare to each other. With a test called a one-way analysis of variance (or ANOVA), I can compare the means (in this case, the average) of three or more groups. There are calculators on the internet where you can plug in your data to do this. I used this one . 

The test will give me a p value. This is a probability measure of how likely I would be to get a difference between these three groups as large as the one I have by chance alone. In general, scientists think of a p value of less than 0.05 (five percent probability) as statistically significant . When I compared my three baking soda amounts, my p value was less than 0.00001, or 0.001 percent. That’s a statistically significant difference that shows the amount of baking soda matters.

I also get an F ratio from this test. If this number is around one, it usually means that the variation between the groups is about what you would get by chance. An F ratio bigger than one, though, means the variation is more than you’d expect to see. My F ratio was 53, which is pretty good.

My hypothesis was that more baking soda will produce a larger explosion . The results here seem to agree with that.

Of course there are things that I could do differently next time. I could make sure that my bottle weights were all the same. I could use a high-speed camera to measure explosion height. Or I could try changing the vinegar instead of the baking soda.

I guess I’m just going to need to make more explosions.

• White vinegar (2 gallons) ($1.92)
• Food coloring: ($3.66)
• Nitrile or latex gloves ($4.24)
• Small digital scale ($11.85)
• Roll of paper towels ($0.98)
• Dish soap ($1.73)
• Glass beakers ($16.99)
• Baking soda (three boxes) ($0.46)
• Two-liter soda bottles (4) ($0.62)

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How To Make A Volcano For Kids

Have you ever made a homemade volcano project where you built the volcano from scratch? If not, we’ll show you how! Find out how to make a volcano model that erupts at home or in the classroom! A homemade volcano is a great science fair project !

Volcano Project for Kids

Let’s make a simple volcano model. For more information on volcanos, see below. This baking soda volcano is made with our simple salt dough recipe. The extra time and effort it takes to make this volcano will be well worth it, and it is an excellent project for kids of all ages.

💡If you want a mess-free volcano project, check out our paper volcano diorama!

• A batch of salt dough
• Small plastic water bottle
• Baking Soda
• Food Coloring
• Dish soap (optional)

How to Make a Volcano

Watch the Video:

STEP 1:  First, you will want to whip up a batch of our salt dough

• 2 cups all-purpose bleached flour
• 1 cup of salt
• 1 cup of warm water

Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and form a well in the center. Add the warm water to the dry ingredients and mix until it forms a dough.

TIP: If the salt dough looks a little runny, you might be tempted to add more flour. Before you do this, allow the mixture to rest briefly! That will give the salt a chance to absorb the extra moisture.

STEP 2:  You want to form the salt dough around a small empty water bottle. Create a composite or shield volcano shape that you learned about above.

Depending on the shape you want, the time to let it dry, and the bottle you have, you might want to make two batches of salt dough! Set your volcano aside to dry for at least 24 hours.

We made a composite-shaped volcano! 

TIP: If you have leftover salt dough, you can make these earth-inspired ornaments!

STEP 3:  Once your volcano is dry, it’s time to paint it and add your creative touches to resemble the actual land form.

Why not conduct a safe internet search or look through books to get an idea of colors and textures for your volcano. Make it as authentic as possible. Of course, you can add dinos for a theme or not!

STEP 4: Once your volcano is ready to erupt, you need to prepare for the eruption. Add a tablespoon or two of baking soda, food coloring, and a squirt of dish soap to the opening.

STEP 5: Time for the volcano to erupt! Make sure your volcano is on a tray to catch the lava flow. Pour the vinegar into the opening and watch. The kiddos are going to want to do this one over and over again!

What is a Volcano?

The easiest definition of a volcano is a hole in the earth, but we recognize it as a landform (usually a mountain) where molten rock or magma erupts through the earth’s surface.

There are two main shapes of volcanoes called composites and shields. Composite volcanoes have steep sides and look like cones, whereas a shield volcano has more gently sloping sides and is wider.

TRY: Learn about volcanos with this edible plate tectonics activity and layers of the earth model. Plus, check out more fun volcano facts for kids!

Volcanoes are classified as dormant, active, and extinct. One of the most active volcanoes today is in Mauna Loa, Hawaii.

Is it magma or lava?

Well, it’s both! Magma is the liquid rock inside the volcano, and once it spills out of it, it is called lava. Lava will burn everything in its path.

How Does a Volcano Erupt

Well, it’s not because of baking soda and vinegar! It is due to escaping gases and pressure. In our homemade volcano below, we use a baking soda and vinegar chemical reaction to mimic the gas produced in a volcano. Baking soda and vinegar are the best ingredients for a homemade volcano!

The chemical reaction produces a gas that pushes the liquid up and out of the container. This is similar to an actual volcano, where gas builds up underneath the earth’s surface and forces the magma up through the hole in the volcano, causing an eruption.

Some volcanoes erupt with an explosive spray of lava and ash, whereas some, like the active volcano in Hawaii, the lava flows out the opening. It all depends on the shape and the opening! The more confined the space, the more explosive the eruption.

Our sandbox volcano is an excellent example of an explosive volcano. Another similar example is our mentos and coke experiment .

💡 Read more about the science behind baking soda and vinegar experiments .

Baking Soda and Vinegar Volcano Ideas

There are so many fun ways to experiment with a baking soda and vinegar chemical reaction , Why not try one of these cool variations…

• LEGO Volcano
• Pumpkin Volcano
• Apple Volcano
• Puking Volcano
• Erupting Watermelon
• Snow Volcano
• Lemon Volcano (No Vinegar Needed)
• Erupting Volcano Slime

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Science Projects > Earth & Space Projects > Volcanic Eruption Science Project  

Volcanic Eruption Science Project

Volcanoes erupt when magma, red-hot liquid rock, seeps up through a vent in the earth. These vents can be at the top of a mountain or on a flat area. Volcanoes can even erupt underwater if there is a vent in the ocean floor. Magma is formed when part of the earth’s mantle gets hot enough to melt. Violent eruptions can occur when pyroclastic material—a mixture of magma, rocks, ash, and hot gases—explodes upward by pressure caused by underground gases and magma.

There are over 1,500 volcanoes around the world today that are considered active, meaning it can erupt at any time. A dormant volcano (like the one in Yellowstone National Park) may become active again, but not for many hundreds or even thousands of years. An extinct volcano no longer has a lava supply and is very unlikely to ever erupt again.

Volcanic Eruption Science Projects

#1: volcano in a bottle (baking soda + vinegar).

You can demonstrate a volcanic eruption using some simple household items. Kids usually have a great time doing this experiment, and may want to repeat it several times!

To make a big eruption, use a small plastic bottle (the size 20-oz soft drinks come in works well). Fill the bottle halfway (1 to 1.5 cups) of vinegar. To start the eruption, drop a baking soda ‘bomb’ into the bottle—wrap one tablespoon of baking soda into a small piece of tissue paper, tying the ends with string.

You should see an instant eruption—’lava’ will spurt out of the mouth of the bottle. The baking soda, a base, neutralizes the acid in vinegar. This releases carbon dioxide gas, which causes the fizzing action in your volcano.

If you want your volcano to look more realistic, use clay or playdough to make a ‘mountain’ around the bottle. Or, if you’re working outside, you might want to use dirt and pebbles. You can also add red food coloring to the vinegar solution to make it look more like lava.

To learn more about volcanoes, take a look at our Introduction to Volcanoes  Science Lesson (includes two more Volcano Science Projects).

#2: Volcano in a Beaker

You can create an erupting volcano using wax, sand, and water!

What You Need:

• 400 ml glass beaker
• Wax candle (A red or orange candle works best!)
• Sand , well rinsed (so as not to cloud the water)
• Alcohol burner or alcohol lamp
• Safety goggles

Safety Note: Only use a high-quality glass beaker or liquid measuring cup (such as Pyrex) for this experiment! An ordinary glass jar or drinking glass will likely crack under this amount of heat. Never put a glass container directly onto the stovetop!

What You Do:

1. Light the candle wick and let it burn for about 20 seconds. Carefully tilt the candle over the beaker, dripping wax inside. You’ll need 2-3 teaspoons of wax at the bottom of the mug. Blow out the candle.

2. Allow the melted wax to cool and harden. Then pour enough sand into the beaker to cover the wax in a thin layer (about an inch).

3. Carefully fill the beaker up with water, taking care not to disturb the sand. Allow the sand to settle until the water appears clear again (about 30 seconds).

4. Light the alcohol lamp using a wooden match (Or use an alcohol burner for more speedy results!) and wait for the flame to stabilize (about one minute).

5. Place the stand over the alcohol lamp and put the beaker on the stand. Wait for the contents of the beaker to be heated slowly. For the most dramatic results, heat slowly over low heat.

6. As the wax melts, you’ll hear a faint hissing sound and see a bulge in the sand layer. Eventually the bulge will erupt, and hot wax will flow through the sand and the water to the top of the beaker.

What Happened:

Volcanoes erupt when red-hot magma seeps up through a vent in the earth’s crust. In this experiment, the wax represents magma from the earth’s mantle, and the sand represents the earth’s crust. The water is where the crust and the air meet. Once a volcano has broken through the earth’s crust lava can flow all over the earth, or it can even be forced out into an ocean. When the wax “magma” reaches the water, it becomes “lava.” Just as the wax hardened once it reached the water in this experiment, real lava cools and hardens once it reaches earth’s surface.

If you want to see the volcanic reaction again, melt a few drops of wax to stick the used wax to the bottom of a clean beaker. Cover with sand and water, then heat slowly as before. The kind of reaction you will get depends on the levels of sand and wax, as well as how slowly or quickly the alcohol lamp melts the wax. Try to keep the heat as steady as you can for a more dramatic result.

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Take Your Volcano Science Project to the Next Level

Fun Ways to Make the Chemical Volcano Project More Exciting

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The  classic baking soda and vinegar volcano  science project is fun, but you can make the eruption more interesting or realistic. Here is a collection of ideas of ways to take the volcanic eruption to the next level. No more boring volcano science projects!

Make a Smoking Volcano

One of the simplest additions to a model volcano is smoke . If you add a chunk of dry ice to any liquid mixture, the solid carbon dioxide will sublimate into a chilly gas that will condense water in the air to produce fog.

Another option is to place a smoke bomb inside the cone of the volcano. The smoke bomb won't burn if it's wet, so you need to place a heat-safe dish inside the volcano and avoid getting it wet when adding liquid ingredients. If you make the volcano from scratch (e.g., out of clay), you can add a pocket for a smoke bomb near the top of the cone.

Glowing Lava Volcano

Use tonic water instead of vinegar in the baking soda volcano, or mix equal parts vinegar and tonic water to make lava that will glow blue under a black light . Tonic water contains the chemical quinine, which is fluorescent. Another simple option is to mold a volcano shape around a bottle of tonic water and drop Mentos candies into the bottle to start the eruption.

For glowing red lava, mix chlorophyll together with vinegar and react the mixture with baking soda. Chlorophyll glows red when exposed to ultraviolet light.

Make a Vesuvius Fire Volcano

A more advanced volcano, suitable for a chemistry demonstration, is Vesuvius fire. This volcano results from combustion of ammonium dichromate to produce sparks, smoke, and a glowing cinder cone of ash. Of all the chemical volcanoes, this one looks the most realistic.

Make a Smoke Bomb Volcano

Another advanced volcano science project is a smoke bomb volcano , which produces a fountain of purple sparks. This volcano is formed by wrapping a smoke bomb in a paper cone, to direct the eruption upward. It's a simple project, but meant for outdoors. 

Lemon Juice and Baking Soda Volcano

Baking soda reacts with any acid to produce simulated lava -- it doesn't need to be acetic acid from vinegar. Mix together lemon juice, a few drops of detergent, and a bit of food coloring to make the lava. Start the eruption by spooning in baking soda. The lemon volcano is safe and smells like lemons!

Color Changing Lava Volcano

It's easy to color the lava of a chemical volcano with food coloring or soft drink mix, but wouldn't it be cooler if the lava could change colors as the volcano erupts? You can apply a bit of acid-base chemistry to achieve this special effect. 

Realistic Wax Volcano

Most chemical volcanoes react chemicals to produce gases that get trapped by detergent to form foamy lava. The wax volcano is different because it works like a real volcano. Heat melts wax until it presses against sand, forming a cone and finally an eruption.

Yeast and Peroxide Volcano

One disadvantage of the baking soda and vinegar volcano is that it erupts instantly. You can recharge it by adding more baking soda and vinegar, but this can run you out of supplies quickly. An alternative is to mix yeast and peroxide to cause an eruption. This reaction proceeds more slowly, so you have time to appreciate the show. It's easy to color the lava, too, which is a nice plus.

Erupt a Ketchup Volcano

Another way to get a slower, more realistic eruption is to react baking soda and ketchup . Ketchup is an acidic ingredient, so it reacts with baking soda to produce carbon dioxide gas, just like vinegar or lemon juice. The difference is that it's thicker and natural lava-colored. The eruption burps and spits and releases an odor that may make you crave french fries. (Tip: Adding baking soda to a ketchup bottle also makes for a messy prank.)

More Ideas to Make Your Volcano Special

 There's more you can do to make your volcano the best it can be. Here are some ideas to try:

• Mix phosphorescent pigment in with the lava ingredients to make a volcano that truly glows in the dark. Another option is to paint the rim of the volcano with glow in the dark paint.
• Add glitter to the lava for a sparkle effect.
• You don't have to make the volcano out of paper mache or clay. If it's winter, take the project outside and perform the eruption in the snow. Mold snow around a bottle to keep your ingredients separate and make clean-up easier.
• Make the effort to shape and decorate the volcano. Technically, all you need is a glass or bottle to make an eruption, but how boring is that? Paint the cinder cone. Consider adding trees and plastic animals. Have fun with it!
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Easy volcano experiment * age 3-8

This is a really  easy volcano experiment for kids age 3-8.

Easy volcano experiment 🌋 age 3-8 🌋

Even if you have kids that aren’t showing any interest in science, this experiment is a lot of fun! It makes quite a mess, so do it outside on a sunny day.

Easy Volcano Experiment

While this experiment is best for kids ages 3-8, really all ages enjoy it. Here’s how we did our experiment.

Supplies Needed:

These are the supplies we used. You don’t need much.

• Baking Soda
• Red food coloring

How to Do the Experiment

Here are the steps. It’s so easy!

• Wrap foil around a mason jar. Form the foil into the shape of a mountain, giving the “lava” a slope to run down.
• Inside the mason jar, put the following: water, 4 spoonfuls of baking soda, a small squirt of dishsoap, and a few drops of food coloring.
• Activate the volcano by adding vinegar.
• After the lava stops flowing, just add more vinegar to make it go again.

What it Teaches

This experiment teaches kids about chemical reactions. When you mix chemicals, some of them have explosive reactions.

It also teaches about volcanos as a natural disaster. What are they? Why are they so destructive?

Easy Volcano Experiment Video

Want to see this experiment in action? Here’s a short video we made to show you how to do it yourself.

More Experiments for Ages 3-8

Here are some more experiments you can do with your elementary school-aged kids. Happy learning!

• Underwater Volcano Experiment
• Magic Pepper Experiment
• Tornado in a Jar Experiment

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Volcano Experiment – Baking Soda Volcano

March 20, 2018 By Emma Vanstone 1 Comment

When you think of great science experiments for kids one of the first that springs to mind is probably a baking soda volcano and vinegar volcano. I remember making one with my little brother in the kitchen when he was about 4 or 5. Baking soda volcanoes and coke floats were our favourite summer activities.

You might also like our 10 science experiments every child should try at least once with a free printable checklist to work through.

A baking soda volcano eruption is a fantastic first demonstration of a chemical reaction as the ingredients are safe ( although do wear safety glasses to protect your eyes from vinegar )

Why does a baking soda and vinegar reaction happen?

If you combine an acid and an alkali they react together to neutralise each other. Vinegar is an acid and bicarbonate of soda is  an alkali.

The reaction releases carbon dioxide gas, which is the bubbles you see. If you add washing up liquid ( dish soap ) to your eruption mix the bubbles make the washing up liquid bubble up, giving the appearance of lava erupting from a volcano .

How to make a baking soda volcano

What you need to make a baking soda volcano.

Basically you need the ingredients for the volcano eruption , a jar or small bottle for the eruption to happen in and something to use as the volcano part.

Volcano – sand, snow, modroc etc

Small jar or bottle

Red food colouring

Baking soda

Volcano Instructions

I don’t usually measure an exact amount of each, but a good dollop of baking soda, a squirt of dish soap and a bit of red food colouring mixed with a little water should give you a good eruption. If it doesn’t, add a bit more baking soda.

If you want to make a very quick and easy baking soda volcano a  sand volcano is a good option, or a snow volcano !

Volcano Experiment Extension Ideas

What happens if you don’t use the dish soap? Can you predict what might happen before trying it?

What happens if you add extra dish soap?

Volcano Experiment Extra Challenge s

Can you think of an acidic fruit you could use to make an baking soda volcano eruption without adding vinegar?

Create a papier mache volcano ? We love this version from Red Ted Art.

Design a multicoloured volcano? We split our jar in half and poured yellow food colouring into one half and red into the other for this.

What’s your favourite baking soda volcano to make?

What is a volcano?

A volcano is a mountain that contains a magma ( rock so hot it has turned into a liquid ) chamber. The magma chamber is filled with liquid rock. If enough pressure builds inside the chamber the volcano can explode shooting the magma from the top! When magma is on the surface of the Earth we call it lava! This is a volcanic eruption and can cause a lot

Make a model of a famous volcano

Another idea is to make a model of a famous volcano. In my book This Is Rocket Science one of the activities is to make a baking soda Olympus Mons . It’s a great way to learn about chemical reactions, volcanoes and Mars!!

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Last Updated on March 2, 2021 by Emma Vanstone

Safety Notice

Science Sparks ( Wild Sparks Enterprises Ltd ) are not liable for the actions of activity of any person who uses the information in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources. Science Sparks assume no liability with regard to injuries or damage to property that may occur as a result of using the information and carrying out the practical activities contained in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources.

These activities are designed to be carried out by children working with a parent, guardian or other appropriate adult. The adult involved is fully responsible for ensuring that the activities are carried out safely.

Reader Interactions

March 21, 2018 at 2:44 pm

My kids just love making erupting volcanoes – they are really fascinated by them. Love your challenges and extension ideas – will defo give them a try!

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Preschool Inspirations

Preschool Activities and Learning

Easy Baking Soda and Vinegar Volcano Eruption for Kids

May 28, 2014 by Katie T. Christiansen 5 Comments

Need a super simple baking soda and vinegar volcano recipe? This one takes about three minutes to prep (and the kids get to help). It uses six common ingredients,  and there is no mess to clean up afterward! If simple and no cleaning is music to your ears, you’re in the right place. We’ve made this five times in the past two weeks, so it’s definitely a loved activity here.

I have always loved making volcanoes with my kids, but they can be time-consuming and require lots of prep. Well, “lots” may be stretching it, but in my world, if it’s not simple, it doesn’t usually happen. The sad truth is that while I’ve thought about making a volcano tons of times, I’ve only made it happen a few. I wanted to change that by making it a super easy process. I hope you absolutely love it!

And if you love these types of science experiments, you can see even more baking soda and vinegar experiments that are simple and so fun! They are also an awesome addition to a preschool curriculum .

Baking Soda and Vinegar Volcano

How do you make the easiest volcano recipe in the world?

Ingredients

• Plastic cup (We tried a water bottle, but the plastic cup worked much better)
• 3-4 Tbs of baking soda at least (we usually do 4-6 which makes it extra foamy and will do 2-3 eruptions)
• 1 tsp of dish soap
• 1 cup (8 oz) of Vinegar to start with per eruption…then they’ll be asking for more 🙂

Location: an area with pea gravel, sand, or dirt

While you mix the base ingredients, have the kiddos make a mound out of pea gravel (or you could certainly do this with dirt). Once you have a mound, put the cup on top of it, and turn it into a mountain.  How easy is that!

We give it a good stir just before adding the last ingredient. Now it’s time for the eruption! Pour in the vinegar until it starts foaming over, pouring it’s lava all over the rocks.

The pictures really don’t do this justice, but our pea gravel mountain was just under a foot tall (30 cm).

Here’s our bubbly red lava taking over the rocks. In the background here, I’ve been hearing “there she blows!”

It is also super fun to mix up the colors a little bit! We can pour the vinegar in about three times before we need to add more baking soda to our solution.

Baking Soda and Vinegar Volcano Video

Want to see it in action? Here’s the video!

Since we can’t get enough of this, here are some more snapshots of our other volcano eruptions.

 What does it look like afterward? Here’s a picture of ours once we took away the plastic cup. You can hardly even tell we did anything, and the rocks must be nice and clean with the baking soda and vinegar. If the washable paint doesn’t come off the rocks right away, it will within a few days or the next rain.

If you want to see what this looks like with dirt, check out these fun volcano posts!

Easy Backyard Volcano by Mom with a Lesson Plan

Erupting Volcanoes in Preschool by Teach Preschool

Or if you have the time to make it a little fancier, here are some more great ideas:

Build, Paint, and Erupt Volcano by Fun at Home With Kids

Erupting Volcano Dinosaur Printable from Fun at Home With Kids

Comparing Homemade Volcano Recipes by Still Playing School

How to Build a Volcano by Kids Activities Blog

Ice Volcanoes by Reading Confetti

Messy Play Fun with Shaving Cream from Fun-A-Day!

Erupting an Easy Homemade Volcano by Mom to 2 Posh Lil’ Divas

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September 13, 2016 at 8:32 am

My son tried this Has lots of fun!

February 28, 2018 at 4:38 pm

I like the idea I have to try it thank you Katie from preschool inspirations I love it and it looks fun and cool because I have a science fair at Edison elementary and I think it would be cool thanks

April 29, 2018 at 5:51 pm

Can you do this without the paint too?

May 2, 2018 at 9:19 am

Hi Amanda, it works without paint. It just won’t be colored. Have fun!

[…] sort of guided activity during my break time. For example some fun science experiments. Making a baking soda and vinegar volcano is super easy and fun. It doesn’t take too long either so you can easily do this with your […]

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How To Make a Baking Soda Volcano With Free Observation Sheet

This experiment will have kids erupting with applause!

The classic baking soda volcano experiment has been entertaining kids (and adults) of all ages for decades. But it’s more than just a lot of fun. This experiment also teaches kids about simple chemical reactions and physical properties. The best part? It’s easy to do and uses only a few basic ingredients. Read on to see how to conduct the baking soda volcano experiment, and fill out the form on this page to grab your free recording sheet!

How does the baking soda volcano experiment work?

This experiment involves pouring vinegar mixed with dish soap into a small amount of baking soda. The baking soda acts as a base while the vinegar is an acid. When the base and the acid come together, they create an endothermic reaction that produces carbon dioxide. The dish soap helps to create the foaming effect as the “lava” pours out of the volcano.

What does the baking soda volcano teach?

The baking soda volcano experiment is a great way to demonstrate a chemical reaction between an acid and a carbonate. When the carbonate (found in the baking soda) is exposed to the acids (found in the vinegar), it creates a decomposition reaction that releases carbon dioxide as gas. While this experiment is an example of an acid-base reaction, it’s also a great simulation of a real volcanic eruption.

Is there a baking soda volcano video?

This video shows how to make a volcano erupt using ingredients you can probably find in your kitchen.

Materials needed

To do the baking soda volcano experiment, you will need:

• Baking soda
• Food coloring
• Mini Paper Cups
• Plastic Volcano Form

Our free recording sheet is also helpful—fill out the form on this page to grab it.

Baking soda volcano experiment steps:

1. to start, place a tiny paper cup into the hole at the top of the plastic volcano mold..

2. Once your volcano is set up, pour 1 to 2 teaspoons of baking soda into the paper cup.

3. Next, add about a half cup of vinegar into a plastic measuring cup.

4. Add a few squirts of dish soap to the vinegar solution.

5. Add some squirts of red and yellow food coloring to the vinegar mixture.

6. Use a plastic spoon to mix all the ingredients in the plastic measuring cup together.

7. Pour the vinegar solution into the small paper cup at the top of the volcano.

8. Finally, watch and enjoy the eruption!

Grab our free baking soda volcano experiment worksheet

Fill out the form on this page to get your free worksheet. The worksheet asks kids to guess the correct order of the steps in the experiment. Next, kids must make a prediction about what they think will happen. They can use the provided spaces to draw what happens before and after they add the ingredients. Did their predictions come true?

Additional reflection questions

• What role does the dish soap play in the reaction that occurs?
• How would it be different if you added baking soda to the vinegar instead of the other way around?
• What do you think would happen if you added a different liquid than vinegar?
• What do you think would happen if you added more baking soda?

Can the baking soda volcano experiment be done for a science fair?

Yes! If you want to do this experiment for a science fair, we recommend switching up some of the variables. For example: Does the amount of baking soda matter? Does the type of dish soap? Form a hypothesis about how changing the variables will impact the experiment. Good luck!

Looking for more experiment ideas? Check out our  big list of experiment ideas here.

Plus, be sure to subscribe to our newsletters for more articles like this., you might also like.

16 Red-Hot Volcano Science Experiments and Kits For Classrooms or Science Fairs

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How to make a volcano

Volcanic eruptions are one of the most powerful natural forces on our planet.

Making your own miniature erupting volcano is a great, safe way to start learning about these incredible geological features. 

Watch the video above to find out how to make a volcano model from household items, then stand back and watch it erupt.  

Read on for written instructions and to discover more about volcanoes.

How to make an erupting volcano model

For the volcano model:.

• Two A3 sheets of card
• 200 ml plastic bottle
• Paint and paintbrushes

For the eruption:

• 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• 1 tbsp washing up liquid
• 2 tbsp water
• ½ cup vinegar
• 1 tbsp red food colouring

1. Place your bottle upside down in the centre of a sheet of card and draw a small circle around the neck.

2. Cut a straight line through the card to the middle of the circle, and cut it out.

In the middle of the card, draw around the bottleneck and cut out the circle

3. Overlap the two sides of the card to make a cone shape. Tape this into place, leaving a hole where you cut out the circle. Cut around the base of the cone so that it sits flat, but make sure that it is still taller than your bottle.

4. Place the cone over the bottle. Tape the top of the paper cone to the neck of the bottle to hold it in place. Tape the base of the cone to the other sheet of card.

5. Use paint to decorate the cone and make it look like a volcano. Allow your model to fully dry. 

Cut away the card at the base of the cone so that it sits flat

6. In a bowl, combine the bicarbonate of soda and washing up liquid. Add the water and mix thoroughly. Pour this mixture into your volcano.

7. In a cup, mix together the vinegar and food colouring.

8. When you're ready, pour the vinegar into the bottle with the bicarbonate. Wait for it to erupt and watch how the lava flows.

9. Experiment with different amounts of bicarbonate and vinegar and see how the volcano's eruption changes.

Stand back and watch your volcano erupt

Take care when handling the eruption ingredients and stand back when watching the eruption to make sure you don't get any in your eyes. Make sure you are working in a well ventilated area.

To make cleaning up easier, it's best to stand your model on a wipe-clean surface.

What is a volcano?

Rather than being one solid surface, Earth's crust and the uppermost parts of the mantle (together called the lithosphere) are broken into several tectonic plates that float over the asthenosphere. This is a deeper layer of rock that is a solid but flows very slowly.

This slow process moves the plates further apart (divergent boundary) or closer together (convergent boundary), or causes them to slide past each other (transform boundary).

Volcanoes typically form at divergent and convergent boundaries, but are also seen in hot spots in the middle of tectonic plates. 

Mount Fuji is one of the world's most famous active volcanoes. It last erupted in the early 1700s and is located about 100 kilometres from Japan's capital city, Tokyo, although some smaller cities sit much closer. © Marion & Christoph Aistleitner via Wikimedia Commons ( CC0 )

Volcanoes are an opening of the Earth's crust through which molten rock, gases and ash can escape. This mixture of materials is called magma while it's underground, lava when it is erupted and igneous rock once it's cooled and solidified on the surface.

Volcanoes are typically high ground or mountains, sometimes with very steep sides made from the magma that erupted.

Types of volcano

Volcanoes come in a variety of shapes and sizes, primarily caused by the different types of magma, but also by how volcanoes behave and where they're located.

Stratovolcanoes

Stratovolcanoes are the most common and perhaps most recognisable type of volcano. Stratovolcanoes are steep-sloped and cone-shaped. They are also known as composite volcanoes.

They mostly produce explosive eruptions and are most commonly associated with convergent plate boundaries. Their lava is sticky (viscous), which means that it doesn't usually spread too far before cooling on the surface, giving the volcano a tall and cone-shaped profile.

Mount St Helens, a stratovolcano in the United States, famously erupted in May 1980. An explosive lateral blast occurred when a strong earthquake caused a massive landslide that collapsed the northern face of the mountain. This reduced pressure and allowing the volcano to explode from its side. © Harry Glicken , USGS/CVO via Wikimedia Commons

The violent 79 AD eruption of the still-active stratovolcano Mount Vesuvius in Italy is regarded as the deadliest in European history. It may have killed more than 16,000 people in total.

Several settlements were destroyed by its pyroclastic flow, the most famous being the ancient Roman city of Pompeii. Pyroclastic flow is a very hot mixture of ash, gases and other volcanic materials that moves at high speed along the flank of the volcano.  

This was a Plinian eruption, with jets of magma and gases emerging from the volcano at high speeds. These types of eruptions can last for several days and cause a plume of superheated ash and gas that can expand and reach a height of 55 kilometres.

Stromboli is another of Italy's active stratovolcanoes, but it behaves differently to Vesuvius. This island volcano has been exhibiting a pattern of eruption for 2,000 years. Mildly explosive blasts of magma - called fire fountains - consistently occur from a few minutes to a few hours apart. This type of eruption is known as strombolian and is exhibited by other volcanoes around the world, such as by Mount Erebus in Antarctica.

A gouache painting by Mauton of Mount Vesuvius erupting in 1836. Image courtesy of  Wellcome Collection , Public Domain

Shield volcanoes

Shield volcanoes are generally not as tall as stratovolcanoes, although they can still reach great heights. Olympus Mons is a shield volcano on the planet Mars . It's the largest volcano in the solar system at around 25 kilometres tall and 624 metres in diameter.

A shield volcano's eruptions are usually gentle and non-explosive and are instead known for their lava flows and fountains. Shield volcanoes have runny lava (low viscosity) that travels further than the stickier lava of stratovolcanoes. This flowing lava results in the far-reaching, gently sloping sides of these volcanoes.

Mauna Kea is a dormant shield volcano in Hawaii. Its peak is the highest point in the state of Hawaii, at 4,207 metres above sea level © Nula666 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Shield volcanoes are typically located on hot spots found across tectonic plates rather than at the boundaries. The best known are the Hawaiian volcanoes such as Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea and Kīauea.

Other volcanoes around the world also exhibit gentle Hawaiian eruptions. This type of eruption can produce lava fountains that can be hundreds of metres tall and travel at speeds of up to 100 metres per second.

Cinder cones

Cinder cones are relatively small volcanoes made from loose volcanic material. Most are short-lived and can grow on the sides of larger volcanoes. They typically form through an explosive eruption or lava fountain from a single vent.

One of the best known is Parícutin, a volcano that suddenly formed in a cornfield in Michoacán, Mexico, beginning in 1943. Due to its continuous strombolian eruptions, the volcano grew until its eruptions ceased in 1952. It had reached 300 metres tall.

Parícutin was the first time that volcanologists were able to document the full life cycle of a volcano. 

The cinder cone volcano, Parícutin, erupting in 1943 © Bodil Christensen via Wikimedia Commons

Supervolcanoes

The largest and most explosive volcanoes on Earth are popularly called supervolcanoes , although this isn't a scientifically defined type of volcano. These enormous volcanoes produce giant calderas - volcanic craters formed by the collapse of the volcano itself when the magma chamber below was emptied by an eruption.

One of the most famous is Yellowstone in the United States, which has a caldera around 72 by 55 kilometres. The Yellowstone supervolcano last erupted around 630,000 years ago. 

The Yellowstone supervolcano is well known for its geothermal activity in the form of hot springs, fumaroles and geysers 

There are around 20 known supervolcano sites around the world. The most recent supereruption was of Taupo volcano in New Zealand around 26,500 years ago.

The eruption of the Indonesian supervolcano Toba around 73,000 years ago is also thought to have triggered a drop of 2-3 degrees Celsius in air temperature globally, causing a five- to seven-year volcanic winter. This eruption may have had an profound impact on the course of the human species.

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Supervolcanoes and their enormous eruptions

Discover what a supervolcano is, what their eruptions are like and how they impact our planet. 

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The mystery of blue Moons lies in the ashes of volcanic eruptions.

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How to Create a Mini Volcano

Last Updated: August 23, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was reviewed by Anne Schmidt . Anne Schmidt is a Chemistry Instructor in Wisconsin. Anne has been teaching high school chemistry for over 20 years and is passionate about providing accessible and educational chemistry content. She has over 9,000 subscribers to her educational chemistry YouTube channel. She has presented at the American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AATC) and was an Adjunct General Chemistry Instructor at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. Anne was published in the Journal of Chemical Education as a Co-Author, has an article in ChemEdX, and has presented twice and was published with the AACT. Anne has a BS in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, and an MA in Secondary Education and Teaching from Viterbo University. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 309,196 times.

Mini volcanoes are a popular science experiment for children to learn about chemical reactions. When baking soda and vinegar combine in the volcano, they make a water and carbon dioxide “eruption” that looks like lava from a volcano! You can easily do this fun experiment at home using a cup, baking soda, salt, and vinegar.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons (28.8 g) of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon (3 g) of salt
• 1-2 drops of washable paint
• 1-2 drops of dish soap
• 1 cup (240 mL) of vinegar

Mixing the Lava Ingredients

• The baking soda will react with the vinegar to cause the reaction, so make sure there's more baking soda than salt in the cup.
• Washable paint is less likely to stain your hands or the ground than food coloring, but you can use food coloring if you don't have paint available.
• The color and type of dish soap doesn't matter, as long as it produces bubbles when added to water.
• If you don't have a small toothpick or stick, you can use a spoon. However, since the spoon is bigger, some of the baking soda “fuel” can stick to the spoon, causing the reaction to be less intense.

Building the Volcano

• Remember that the outside of the volcano will quickly be covered with the “lava,” so the clay doesn't need to be dry.
• You might also have to trim around the base of the volcano to make sure it isn't crooked. Don't worry about making it perfect, as long as the general shape is right.
• Thinner paper, like regular printer paper, will start to collapse once it gets wet when the lava starts. Try to use a thicker paper, like construction paper, or a coated paper, like wrapping paper.
• For clay figures, you can press plastic dinosaur figures into the clay to create a fun Jurassic scene!
• If you're doing the project outside, consider using rocks or sand to surround the base of your volcano, making it even more realistic!

Making an Eruption

• If you're doing this experiment with kids, you can talk to them about what's going to happen as you start pouring the vinegar into the cup.
• If it doesn't start within 10 seconds, add an extra tablespoon (14.4 g) of baking soda to the reaction.
• If the lava starts to lose its color, add another drop of paint before adding more vinegar!

Community Q&A

Reader Videos

• Don't be afraid to touch the lava as it comes out of the volcano! Since its just water and bubbles, it's safe to play in the lava while you watch it erupt. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0

Tips from our Readers

• To reuse your volcano, simply add more baking soda and vinegar. For each 2 tablespoons (28.8 g) of baking soda, you can safely add 2-3 cups (473-710 mL) of vinegar before needing to rebuild.
• Doing this experiment indoors? Be sure to place your volcano over a spill-proof tray or inside a large plastic bin to catch any overflow. Wipe up spills immediately to avoid stains.
• Get creative with building materials! Use playdough, salt dough, or papier mâché instead of clay for the outer structure. Or recycle items like oatmeal containers for the base.
• For a more dramatic eruption, add several drops of red or orange food coloring to the baking soda mixture. The more vibrant the lava color, the more exciting for kids.
• Capture the volcanic eruption on video by setting up a smartphone or tablet on a tripod. Kids will love rewatching the experiment and seeing their reactions.
• Involve kids in preparing the experiment by allowing them to measure ingredients or mix the “lava." More participation builds science curiosity.

Things You'll Need

• Plastic cup or jar
• Aluminum foil and modeling clay
• Rolling pin
• Construction paper and tape
• Washable paint (optional for adding color to lava and decorating)
• Markers (optional for decorating)
• Plastic tray
• Toothpick or stick for stirring

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qalAKtLbjX8
• ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFZhbEi19M8
• ↑ https://youtu.be/mWZW4FeHHbU?t=216
• ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AqoOOJ3H_I
• ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFSYLQkMR7U
• ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8VEnGcfXHY

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Extinct Volcanoes May Be the Answer to Our Rare Earth Metal Problems

Let's just use mines we already have!

• Rare earth metals are becoming more and more in-demand as we move toward a clean energy future, but the distribution of these metals means that their extraction can be incredibly damaging.
• Right now, however, we need these materials. So, we need options for viable mineral deposits that can be mined while keeping the side effects to a minimum.
• A group of scientists has a proposal for exactly that—extinct volcanoes.

‘ Rare earth metals ’ is a phrase you’re probably going to hear more and more in the coming years. They’re a class of minerals that we use in a lot of important tech, ranging from cell phones to electric car motors. Slowly but surely, we are becoming ever more dependent on these metals.

But as useful as they are, there are serious problems with rare earth metals. They are difficult to mine due to their typically low concentrations (though deposits are fairly widespread), the mining process produces significant amounts of toxic and radioactive waste , and they are—much like oil— able to be leveraged in sociopolitical situations to an uncomfortable degree. To dramatically undersell it, the whole thing is a total mess.

Unfortunately, however, it’s not really a mess we can extract ourselves from right now—especially considering that the alternatives to certain pieces of rare earth metal-powered tech aren’t great , either. While engineers are working to develop technologies that don’t rely on these minerals, that work is not moving fast enough, and we still need rare earth metals if we are going to transition to a desperately necessary green energy future.

So, if we can’t get away from them just yet, we need options. Right now, experts are hard at work searching for sources of rare earth metals that are both economically viable and can be extracted with limited negative consequences. And one team of scientists has an idea of where we should be looking: extinct volcanoes . They recently published a paper on the subject in the journal Geochemical Perspectives Letters .

“There is an enigmatic type of magma that contains unusually large amounts of iron,” Michael Anenburg, one of the authors of this new study, wrote in an article for The Conversation . “It is so rare, no eruptions featuring this type of magma have happened in recorded history. Instead, it is only known from extinct volcanoes that were active many millions of years ago.”

One of those volcanoes, Anenburg writes, is called Kiruna. Located in Sweden , the site—which has long been mined for the iron in its iron-rich magma—was found to be the “largest rare earths resource in Europe” just last year.

So, the scientists started to wonder if there was any association between the iron-rich magma and higher-than-average concentrations of rare earth metals. In order to investigate, they took on an extremely elevated and complex version of potentially the most well-known science experiment ever—they made a model volcano.

Now, this was much more complicated than the average baking soda-and-vinegar volcano you’d see at a kids’ science fair. To simulate their dead volcanoes, the team built a machine called a piston cylinder. Then, they placed synthetic materials “akin to volcanic rocks and magmas into small capsules or ‘bottles’ made of noble metals such as platinum ,” pressurized the entire system to match the conditions found about 9.5 miles (15 kilometers) under ground, and cranked the heat up to about 2,000°F (1,100°C), melting everything into synthetic magma.

Upon examining their super-heated sludge, the team found that little pockets of iron -rich magma formed inside the more standard-issue magma. Even more interestingly, the iron-rich magma appeared to act almost as a sponge for rare earth metals—pulling them in and soaking them up before separating from the normal magma due to differences in density.

“Iron-rich magmas absorb the rare earths so efficiently, their rare earth contents are almost 200 times greater than the regular magmas around them,” Anenburg wrote. “This means the discovery at Kiruna wasn’t an accident. It’s something we can expect from most, if not all, iron-rich volcanoes.”

If they’re right, it means we suddenly have a lot of new, accessible targets for rare earth metal mining—ones that could be pretty good options all-around. Many of these dead volcanoes are already being mined for iron, and could theoretically be adapted for rare earth metal mining without the same trouble as starting up a new mine. According to Anenburg, this would give existing mines new value, avoid ripping up land for new ones, and could even lead to the re-processing of mine waste to search for these valuable minerals .

This doesn’t solve all of our problems with rare earth metals. Not even close. We’re still a long way from perfecting the process of acquiring these incredibly useful minerals, and it will take a considerable amount of work and commitment to make this process better for everyone, everything, and everywhere involved. But to get there, we’ll need to take a lot of steps—and as a first step , this discovery certainly has potential.

Jackie is a writer and editor from Pennsylvania. She's especially fond of writing about space and physics, and loves sharing the weird wonders of the universe with anyone who wants to listen. She is supervised in her home office by her two cats.

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1. Learn about volcanoes

2. prepare your crater, 3. make your volcano erupt, 4. form the lava flow, 6. make more eruptions, 7. trade your volcano, 8. take core samples, 9. record your findings, 10. compare your map.

Learning Space

Teachable Moments

Stay Connected

Make a Volcano

Make a volcano with baking soda, vinegar and play dough. Then, add multiple layers that you can investigate like a NASA scientist. Test your family and friends to see if they can guess what's inside your volcano!

Watch the Tutorial

See below for materials and step-by-step instructions. For more video tutorials and activities like this one, visit Learning Space .

Watch en Español : Seleccione subtítulos en Español bajo el ícono de configuración.

In this episode of Learning Space, you will make a volcano with baking soda, vinegar and play dough. Then, add multiple layers that you can investigate like a NASA scientist. | Watch on YouTube

Piece of cardboard OR a cookie sheet

3 or more colors of play dough ( download recipe ) or soft clay

Baking soda

Paper towels

Colored pencils OR crayons (ideally matching the colors of the play dough)

2 sheets of graph paper OR plain paper

1-3 clear plastic drinking straws

Find out how volcanoes form and what causes them to erupt . Then click the planets in this interactive image to learn about volcanoes on planets throughout our solar system. Get inspired before you create your own volcano by checking out these images of volcanoes on Earth .

› Learn more about this image

Cut off the top of the paper cup so it's only about 0.5 inches (1-2 cm) tall. Place the paper cup at the center of your piece of paper and trace around the bottom to make a circle. The circle and the cup represent the crater inside your volcano. Tape the cup to the piece of cardboard or a cookie sheet. Mark north, east, south and west on both the paper and the cardboard or cookie sheet.

Fill the cup with a spoonful of baking soda. Then, slowly pour in enough vinegar to make the mixture foam up and flow out of the cup. This simulates an eruption and lava flowing out of your volcano.

If possible, use a colored pencil to trace around the edge of where the lava flew out of your volcano. Dab up the fluid with a paper towel. Then, cover the area inside the line you traced with a thin layer of one color of play dough to mark where the lava flowed.

On your graph paper, use a colored pencil that matches the color of the play dough you put down to draw the shape of your lava layer. This is the start of a map that will show where lava flowed during each eruption of the model volcano. Be sure the orientation of the cardinal directions on your map match the ones on your model volcano.

Repeat steps 3-5 three or four more times. Each time, put down a new layer of play dough and then map it out by drawing the shape of that layer on your graph paper. If you have more than one color of play dough, change colors between eruptions so it's easier to see the different layers.

If possible, trade your volcano with another person, so you can investigate one that is unknown! If you can't trade with anyone, find a family member who didn’t watch you build the volcano and challenge them to do the next steps.

Cut a plastic straw into thirds or fourths. Push an open end of the straw straight down through the play dough lava flows until you reach the bottom. Twist the straw in place and lift out a sample. This is what's called a core sample.

Looking through the clear straw, you can see the layers underneath the surface of the volcano. You can use this sample to investigate how the layers of the volcano formed over time. Repeat this step with each of your three or four straw pieces. Think about the best places to collect samples so that you can get as much information as possible.

On a blank piece of graph paper, draw a circle and cardinal directions like you did in Step 2. Use your core samples to make a prediction of where each layer of the volcano you’re studying begins and ends.

Then, use colored pencils that match the colors you find in the volcano to draw the layers on your graph paper. Try to get as close as you can with as few samples as possible!

Once you’ve created a map of your predictions, compare it with the known map from steps 2-6.

A Harmless Volcanic Eruption Has Its Charms

Kilauea’s eruption last week was a chance to appreciate Earth’s most powerful forces.

Produced by ElevenLabs and News Over Audio (NOA) using AI narration.

Earth is an endlessly convulsing world. So much of it is in disequilibrium, riddled by heat, pressure, and chemicals trying to get from their current location to somewhere else. And these forces are powerful enough that they manifest in ways that inadvertently make us feel small: tremendous hurricanes barreling across the sea, thundering earthquakes that can tear apart mountains, tsunamis that wash over and subjugate the land with a preternatural ease. Put us surface dwellers in their path, and we are existentially vulnerable. Natural wonders become disasters.

The same is true for plenty of erupting volcanoes, whether they’re exploding with cataclysmic force or oozing incandescent molten rock. But not always. In fact, most volcanic eruptions are harmless—and the latest outburst on the island of Hawaii was one of the loveliest displays of volcanism in quite some time.

Earlier this month, a fissure—a thin schism in the crust—opened in a remote, crater-filled area of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, on the slopes of the Kīlauea volcano. The outrush of lava began on a Sunday night, but the embers were obscured by heavy rainfall; the only reason scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory knew anything was happening was because their instruments detected a spike in telltale tremors and muffled thuds, hinting at rapidly moving magma and venting vapors. During a helicopter flight the next day, volcanologists spotted that new fissure’s scar tissue between Makaopuhi Crater and Nāpau Crater, but no freshly extruded lava. Almost as soon as the volcano had started acting up, it took a little break.

The pause was one of several diminuendos during this recent, multiday eruption. But each time the volcano started up again, new fissures would score blazing lines across the national park. At one point, a magnificent waterfall-like torrent of lava was seen gushing over the walls of Nāpau Crater. Then, on September 20, as suddenly as they had begun, the volcanic theatrics ended : No new lava was erupting from the site. And a few days later, the eruption was officially declared to be over .

Unlike eruptions from a volcano’s clearly identifiable vent, volcanic fissures can pop up anywhere that migrating magma deems fit, which makes them somewhat stealthy and decidedly treacherous to the towns or cities built around them. In this instance, magma found its skylight in a secluded spot. And so it became one of those eruptions that are harmless to us—just the planet letting off a bit of steam. Watching molten rock twist and turn, dance and meander, can inspire a sense of awe . In a world rife with disaster, a little eruption like last week’s fireworks in Hawaii can be almost soul-soothing. Look at that! Earth’s just doing its wondrous, beautiful thing.

The better that scientists understand these primeval forces, the more likely they can help everyone else maintain some of this appreciation, even when eruptions become dangerous. In Iceland, for instance, the lava that emerged from the middle of the Reykjanes Peninsula in March 2021, for the first time in eight centuries, began as a dramatic spectacle. Lava quickly fountained from a series of fissures into the sky, before pouring into several uninhabited valleys next to a mountain named Fagradalsfjall. Thousands of revelers sat atop the surrounding hills, watching the eruption as if they were audience members in a volcanic amphitheater. This eruption was followed by two additional outbursts in the same general location before the magmatic forge beneath Reykjanes decided to set up shop elsewhere on the peninsula—this time, near a crucial geothermal power plant and the town of Grindavík.

That town has now been besieged by multiple incursions of lava. Lava-deflecting walls —barriers of volcanic rock, which are extended or shifted to combat new fissures—have kept it from being destroyed. But should lava overrun one of these walls, or a fissure unzip the crust in a populated area, people’s lives would be directly imperiled. For Grindavík, this has been a slow-moving disaster of sorts: The repeatedly evacuated site has been essentially a ghost town for almost a year now. Still, to date, not a single person has died as a direct result of the Reykjanes Peninsula’s new volcanism. If the last salvo of eruptions is anything to go by, this flurry of fiery rivers will keep emerging for several decades to come—a testament to both Earth’s power and our capacity to coexist with it.

Volcanic eruptions are certainly complicated, but if they happen often enough and are comprehensively monitored, scientists can get rather good at tracking them. And when volcanic activity is a part of people’s daily lives, it might be feared, or marveled at, or respected, but it can also be better understood. Iceland’s volcanologists, for example, have managed to decode the seismic rumblings of the peninsula’s underworld, and track the changing shape of the ground itself, to know precisely when and where the next eruption will begin. They are, in effect, having an ongoing conversation with the volcanic creature under their feet.

Kīlauea, too, can be a troublesome volcano. Lava appearing in its summit, or sneaking out of fissures on its flanks, can light up the night sky with a striking vermilion glow, threatening nobody. But in 2018, for example, a Kīlauea eruption destroyed more than 700 homes, displaced about 3,000 people, and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. That molten rock deleted entire neighborhoods . And volcanologists, who have studied Kīlauea for more than a century, are still trying to working out exactly what its magmatic circulatory system looks like. But they can also use the volcano’s seismic symphonies and swelling rooftop to track the subterranean movement of magma. If it’s heading toward a populated area, or somewhere upslope from one, they can sound the alarm. If it’s merely putting on a show, as in the case of this latest conflagration, scientists can chronicle the eruption, take samples of its lava , and get some good practice for a genuine emergency —while us lucky passersby get to gleefully witness it.

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