19 votes

What exactly is the goop inside a lava lamp?

3 comments

  1. knocklessmonster
    Link
    I liked how he went into how to make your own, even if it's not exactly easy, or safe, at least from a chemical perspective. I'm curious about how it's done without the brake cleaner chemical....

    I liked how he went into how to make your own, even if it's not exactly easy, or safe, at least from a chemical perspective. I'm curious about how it's done without the brake cleaner chemical.

    It's cool to know what's actually in them, more or less, and that it was water and some sort of impregnated wax, rather than alcohol and something else.

    I struck out on my own for a little research, and the main company that makes them uses water with additives for density, and plain ol' paraffin with colors. It's pretty cool.

    6 votes
  2. [2]
    wervenyt
    Link
    This video rekindled a love for these gooey tubes that's been smoldering in the background of my mind since I was young. Guess it's time to research the market.

    This video rekindled a love for these gooey tubes that's been smoldering in the background of my mind since I was young. Guess it's time to research the market.

    4 votes
    1. Deimos
      Link Parent
      If you haven't seen it before, a fun usage of them is that Cloudflare has a whole wall of lava lamps that they use to generate random numbers. Their page about it: How Do Lava Lamps Help with...

      If you haven't seen it before, a fun usage of them is that Cloudflare has a whole wall of lava lamps that they use to generate random numbers.

      Their page about it: How Do Lava Lamps Help with Internet Encryption?

      There are two more-technical blog posts about it linked at the bottom of that page too.

      6 votes