Lava Lamps
Though lava lamps were more popular a few decades ago، you can still find them in most stores. I don’t think they ever really went away، but they may never be as popular as they were back then. I had one in college، but that was only because I was bad with money and I didn’t know any better. It was، after all، pretty and blue. How was I supposed to resist that? Today، I could easily resist، but back then، well، I just had to have a lava lamp of my own.
I guess maybe it was curiosity more than anything. I bought the lava lamp with the intention of going home and watching it for a few hours. After those few hours were up، I was going to take the lava lamp apart to find out just what exactly was inside and how it worked. Now I know today you can just find that information online، but when I was in college، the Internet was a few years away from being available to me.
I took the top off of the lava lamp and discovered it was contained in a glass container with a lid. The lid looked like a sealed lid from an old soda bottle، and this alone stopped me from totally taking it apart. I was worried if there was a seal، and I broke it، that my lava lamp would never work again. I guess after watching it for a few hours before taking it apart made me like it more than I thought I would. My roommate and I enjoyed the magic of my lava lamp for a long time، but we still wondered how it worked.
As far as I could tell، the floating stuff inside the lava lamp was some sort of wax. I could be wrong، and honestly، I still haven’t looked it up to find out for sure. I was assured that the water was not just any water، but I am not sure about that. I do know that they wax-like material as heated by a bulb in the bottom of the lava lamp، and that heating caused it to rise. Perhaps the cooler water at the top cooled it off so it sank again، but I really don’t know. What I do know is that when a lava lamp has been on for too long، the wax just hangs there in tiny blobs that bop around a bit. Perhaps I should dig out my old lamp and take it apart once and for all، or perhaps، I’ll just save myself the trouble and the mess، and go look it up.
