How Viscosity Affects Volcanoes

Lab Purpose: Viscosity is a liquids resistance to flow. In this lab, you will investigate
how silica content affects viscosity. You will relate what you learn in this lab to the viscosity
of magma in order to understand how the viscosity of magma determines whether an
eruption is quiet or explosive.

Lab Materials
Wax Paper
2 Textbooks
1 lined plastic cup
Corn syrup
Plastic Spoon

Ruler
Stopwatch
Marker
Sand

Procedure
1. If you do not have your own sink, lay a piece of wax paper on the counter. Place one
of the textbooks on one edge of the wax paper. The wax paper on the counter will
catch any liquids that run off your book. If you have your own sink, you do not need
the piece of wax paper on the counter, you can just position your books so your
liquids run into the sink.
2. Make a ramp using two textbooks. Lay one textbook on the counter and prop the
other textbook up on an angle so it looks like a ramp. Cover the top book with wax
paper. Make the wax paper long enough so that it hangs over the edge of the book
and protects the end of the book completely. Do not let corn syrup get on the book.
See set-up diagrams below.

3.

Using a marker, measure a distance of 20 centimeters on the wax paper that is on

the book. Zero should be near the top of your slanted book, 20 should be near the
bottom. Make a mark every 1 centimeter.

4. Obtain a cup with lines drawn on it. Fill the cup with corn syrup to the first line.
5. Pour the entire contents onto the starting line. Start timing when the syrup touches
the wax paper.
6. When the timer says, Stop at 20 seconds, record how many centimeters the syrup
and sand mixture flowed down the wax paper. If it stops between marks, estimate
(i.e. 12.5 cm).
7. Repeat step 5 with a cup of corn syrup, with sand added to fill up to the second line.
Make a new lane dont pour on the old stuff. Record how many centimeters the
syrup flowed down the wax paper.
8. Fill in the data table and answer all questions.

Name:
State the Lab Purpose:
_____________________________________________________________________

Hour:

How does this relate to volcanoes?

_________________________________________________________
Make a prediction AFTER reading through the entire lab activity.
How will the silica content of corn syrup affect its viscosity?
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Data Table:
Type of liquid

Distance (cm) it traveled

Corn Syrup
Corn syrup with sand

Graph: Graph your data on a bar graph in the space below. Color your graph and provide a title
and a key. Please graph your data/bars in order of increasing viscosity along the x axis.

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________

1.

Define viscosity

___________________________________________________________________

2.

What is the relationship between silica content and the viscosity of corn syrup?
_____________________________________________________________________________________

3.

If silica content affects the viscosity of magma in the same way that it affects the
viscosity of corn syrup, how does temperature affect the viscosity of magma?
____________________________________________________________________________________

4.

List the 2 different ways that volcanoes can erupt:

_____________________________________

5.

___________________________________________

Describe what an eruption would be like for each of the two types listed above (#4)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

6.

Besides silica content, what are two other things that affect the viscosity of magma:
________________________________

7.

and

___________________________________________

What has the biggest impact on the viscosity of magma?

_____________________________

8.

Determine how the following properties would affect the viscosity of magma:
Low silica content: _______________________________
High silica content: _______________________________

9.

What types of eruptions are caused by magma with high viscosity?

____________________
What types of eruptions are caused by magma with low viscosity?

_____________________
10.

How do scientists compare the power of volcanic eruptions?

__________________________
What number is assigned to the least explosive eruption? ___________ The most?
________
11.

List 3 hazards volcanoes pose to humans and/or property.

____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

12.

What was the average silica content of Mount St Helens magma? ____________ %

What kind of eruption do you think occurred at Mount St. Helens? Quiet / Explosive
Why? ______________________________________________________________________________

What Determines How Explosive

a Volcanic Eruption Will Be?
Volcanoes can erupt in one of two ways: quietly or explosively.
A quiet, or non-explosive eruption produces quiet outpourings of lava that flow down the
side of the volcano. Non-explosive eruptions are generally associated with shield volcanoes.
Kilauea, a shield volcano in Hawaii, has formed from repeated quiet eruptions. Volcanoes like
Kilauea are referred to as non-explosive or quiet because they generally have low amounts of
dissolved gas and their magmas and lavas are very fluid (or flow easily). Although quiet eruptions
do have the potential to damage property or harm people, they are usually harmless as long as
people are out of the way of the moving lava flow.
Explosive eruptions have much more potential to cause death and destruction. Explosive
eruptions are very violent and occur as a result of immense pressure that has built up inside the
volcano. The reason these types of eruptions are so explosive has to do with the magma inside of
them. Magma often contains dissolved gas, and as the magma rises up towards the surface, the
decreased pressure near the surface causes the gas bubbles in the magma to expand. This
causes the pressure inside the volcano to increase. Other gases that form in a volcano, and which
are released during an eruption, include carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and
sulfur gas. An explosive eruption produces ash and pyroclastic material, which is blasted out of
the volcano at supersonic speeds and can be very deadly. Explosive eruptions are generally
associated with composite volcanoes.
Whether a volcano erupts quietly or explosively depends mostly on the composition of the
magma inside the volcano. Lets look at how the type of magma inside a volcano affects the type
of eruption that occurs.
Viscosity is a measure of a fluids resistance to flow. Cold molasses, for example,
has a higher viscosity than water because it is less fluid and, is therefore, more resistant to flow.
The viscosity of magma is very important in determining whether a volcano will erupt quietly or
explosively. Magmas viscosity is controlled by its temperature, composition (what its made of)
and gas content.
The effect of temperature on viscosity is simple. For most liquids, the higher the
temperature, the more fluid and less viscous the substance becomes. Magma is no different; the
hotter the magma, the lower its viscosity.
The composition of magma plays an even greater role than temperature in determining the
viscosity of magma. Magmas resistance to flow is a function of its internal friction, which is a
result of the chemical bonds that form as elements combine in the magma. Most magmas are
made up of only ten elements: Oxygen (O), Silicon (Si), Aluminum (Al), Iron (Fe), Magnesium (Mg),
Titanium (Ti), Calcium (Ca), Sodium (Na), Potassium (K), and Phosphorus (P). Oxygen and silicon
are by far the two most abundant elements in magma. Magma types vary from mafic magmas,
which have relatively low silica and high iron and magnesium contents, to felsic magmas, which
have relatively high silica and low iron and magnesium contents. Mafic magmas will cool and
crystallize to form the volcanic rock Basalt, while felsic magmas will crystallize to produce Ryholite.
Because mafic rocks are enriched with iron and magnesium, they tend to be darker in color than
felsic rocks.
SiO2 Content

Magma Type

Volcanic Rock

~50%
~65%-70%

Mafic
Felsic

Basalt
Rhyolite

Silica content (Silicon and Oxygen molecules bonded together to make SiO 2) is the single
most important factor in determining how viscous magma will be. The bonding of silica molecules
increases the internal friction of the magma, making it more resistant to flow. Magmas with a
high silica content will therefore have higher viscosities than those with low amounts of silica. The
massive shield volcanoes of Kilauea and Mauna Loa in Hawaii, which produce quiet eruptions,
contain magma with 50% silica content. The stratovolcanos Mount Ranier and Mount St. Helens,
which have erupted explosively in the past, have silica contents of 60% and 64% respectively.
The final characteristic in determining the type of eruption that will occur is gas content.
High amounts of dissolved gas in magma provide the driving force for explosive eruptions,
especially if the magma is very viscous. Low viscosity magma will allow escaping gases to move
rapidly through the magma and escape to the surface, but magma that is highly viscous prevents
the upward movement of gas bubbles. Silica molecules form strong bonds that trap gases in the
magma. As gases continue to be trapped by the magma, the overall pressure inside the volcano
increases. Eventually the pressure becomes high enough for the magma to break through the
surface with explosive violence, shattering the rock and carrying the broken fragments (pyroclastic
material) high into the air. Explosive eruptions result in a much higher risk of human injury and
death. As a general rule, non-explosive eruptions are produced by basaltic magmas, which have
low viscosities and low gas contents, and explosive eruptions are produced from rhyolitic magmas,
which have high viscosities and high gas contents.
Scientists use something called the Volcanic Explosive Index (VEI) to compare the
energy that has been released by different volcanoes throughout history. The VEI scale goes from
1 (lowest amount of energy) to 8 (highest amount of energy) and is based on the volume of
pyroclastic material that is ejected, the height of the cloud column, and other factors that indicate
the power of the eruption. No eruption in the last 10,000 years has been assigned a VEI of 8. The
Tambora eruption, believed to be the most explosive eruption ever recorded, has been assigned a
VEI of 7.
Volcanic hazards are caused directly or indirectly by the material ejected from a volcano
during an eruption. Some of them include:
1) Lava flows: Lava flows pose little hazard to life because they follow the contours of the
earths surface and their paths can usually be predicted. This means there is usually
plenty of time for people to be evacuated out of the path of the moving lava.
2) Pyroclastic material and Gas: During explosive eruptions, pyroclastic materials mix with
volcanic gases, air, and water to form hot clouds (> 1,000 oC) that move along the
ground. These clouds can travel faster than 100 km/hour, burning or suffocating
everything in their path. Pyroclastic debris can range in size from less than 0.25 mm in
size to volcanic bombs that are greater than 32 mm in size. Most debris falls back to the
earth close to the volcano, but during violent eruptions, ash may fall on areas hundreds
of miles away. Fine dust may even circle the planet and remain in the atmosphere for
years. This can affect global weather patterns.

3) Mudflows/Lahars: Mudflows, or Lahars, are formed when pyroclastic material mixes

with water and starts to flow down the mountain. Lahars can reach distances of several
tens of kilometers beyond the actual volcano and increase the risk of floods in the area.
Lahars may rush down the slopes of a mountain without much warning, increasing the
risk to human life.