Imagine a volcano like a pressure cooker. When hot rock (called magma) moves up from deep inside the Earth, it fills the space below the volcano. If the magma is runny and has lots of gas bubbles, it can pop out suddenly, that's an explosion! But if the magma is thick or there’s not much gas, it just oozes out slowly like honey.
Why It Matters
Sometimes volcanoes explode with fire and smoke, and other times they just bubble quietly. That depends on what kind of magma is inside them.
Examples
- A bottle of soda exploding when you open it quickly
- Hot chocolate boiling over when it's too full
- A balloon popping in your ear
Ask a question
See also
- What Makes a ‘Volcano’ Different from a ‘Mountain’?
- What are repeated eruptive cycles?
- What Makes Volcanoes Erupt?
- Why Do Volcanoes Erupt?
- What Makes a ‘Volcano’ Erupt So Violently?