Make a wax volcano | Shot on Mount Etna | Live Experiments with Huw James | Head Squeeze

Huw James took a trek up Mount Etna and decided to show us what actually happens when a volcano erupts!

With a little bit of help from Dr Suze Kundu and using a simple demonstration heating a glass beaker of wax, stone, sand and water we can see what happens when a volcano erupts.

We can actually tell a lot about a volcano looking at the lava that comes out. If the lava is quite dense and thick we know it contains a lot of the compound silica. If it is less dense it has less silica and spreads out a lot more.

Thick lava will generally erupt from one vent and follow one flow down the side of the volcano. Thinner lava, lava that is less dense, generally erupts from the surrounding magma chambers and flows in many different channels.

Did you know that Mount Etna erupted recently? Check out this amazing video from BBC News! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24980153

Have you found yourself half way up an active volcano and need to find north quickly? Well Check out Huw's vid on How to find North: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HalWPa6Ef5E&list=PLMrtJn-MOYmd9qywSe0JaCOed0t4CVV1l&index=3

Wonder why it's colder when you're high up a mountain? Check out James vid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cimgIhtN-AU&list=PLMrtJn-MOYmfqNgyPxx6NYMZnd25y4shc&index=40

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