What is Molten rock?

Molten rock is like lava that lives underground.

Imagine you have a big, hot chocolate bar inside the Earth, it's so warm, it starts to melt. That melted part is molten rock. It’s not just any liquid; it’s full of different ingredients, kind of like how your favorite smoothie has fruit, yogurt, and maybe some honey.

When molten rock gets hot enough, it can push its way up through cracks in the Earth, just like when you squeeze a toothpaste tube and it squirts out. Sometimes it comes all the way to the surface as lava, which is what we see during volcanic eruptions.

Molten rock isn’t always flowing, sometimes it cools down and hardens into rock. Think about how syrup turns into candy when it cools, molten rock does something similar, just much bigger and deeper inside the Earth.

So next time you see lava or feel the ground shake during an earthquake, remember: there’s a big, hot chocolate bar melting underground, and it's making things move!