Why Do Volcanoes Erupt?

Volcanoes erupt when hot lava inside the Earth pushes its way out. Imagine a big bubble of hot goo deep under the ground, it builds up pressure until poof!, it bursts through the top like a popcorn machine.

Take the quiz →

Examples

  1. A volcano erupts like when you shake up a bottle of soda and then open it, fizz!
  2. Imagine lava inside the Earth as molten rock in a giant pressure cooker, when it bursts, that’s an eruption!
  3. The ground cracks open like a cake pan after too much heat, lava flows out.

Ask a question

See also

Discussion

Recent activity