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What If you Went Inside a Volcano? | A Fun Science Adventure for Kids · The Curious Kidcast | Fun Facts and Curious Questions

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  Curious kid cast. Here we go.
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  Questions poppin. Minds will blow.
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  Big ideas. They're taking flight.
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  Let's explore. Feel the light.
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  Why, what, where and how. Big answers.
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  We'll find them now. Curious minds.
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  The world will come. Ask away.
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  Let's bring it home. Hey there, curious kids.
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  Welcome back to the Curious Kid cast.
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  I'm Andy, and today we're diving into one of the hottest
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  questions I've ever received. Literally.
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  This brilliant question comes from Rosie in Manchester,
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  England, who apparently asked this right after watching her
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  mum make tomato soup and wondering if a volcano was just
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  Earth's way of making really angry soup.
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  I love it, Rosie. Let's find out together.
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  So what would actually happen if you went inside a volcano?
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  Have you ever looked at a volcano on TV and thought, hang
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  on, what's actually inside that thing?
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  Is it like a giant bubbling cauldron of doom?
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  Is it a secret underground layer where super villains hang out?
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  Could you slide down it like the world's most dangerous water
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  slide? Spoiler alert, please don't try
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  that last one. Today we're going to explore the
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  inside of a volcano using our imaginations and some pretty
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  amazing science. We won't go there for real
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  because, well, I quite like having eyebrows.
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  So grab your imaginary heatproof suit, switch on your explorer
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  mode, and let's go. First things first, what even is
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  a volcano? A volcano is basically a
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  mountain that decided being normal was boring.
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  Most mountains just sit there looking majestic, maybe getting
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  a bit of snow on top, living their best mountain life.
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  But volcanoes? Oh no.
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  Volcanoes can spit fire, launch rocks into space.
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  Well, nearly space make brand new land and explode like
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  someone shook up the world's biggest fizzy drink.
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  They're basically the show offs of the mountain world.
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  But beneath all that drama, a volcano is just a place where
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  melted rock called magma manages to squeeze up from deep inside
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  the Earth. Think of Earth's outer layer
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  like a giant cracked eggshell made of enormous pieces called
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  tectonic plates. These plates move around super
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  slowly, like snails doing yoga in slow motion.
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  Sometimes they pull apart, sometimes they crash together,
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  and sometimes they slide under each other like a really weird
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  geological limbo competition. When that happens, melted rock
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  can rise up through the cracks and boom, you've got yourself a
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  volcano. Now what's actually inside a
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  volcano? And no, it's not just a big tank
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  of lava with a ladder going down.
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  If you could slice a volcano in half like a massive geology
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  cake, which would be the worst cake ever by the way, you'd see
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  it's way more complicated than you think.
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  There's the magma chamber, which is a big underground pool where
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  magma hangs out, but don't imagine it like a swimming pool.
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  It's more like a sponge full of super hot gooey rock.
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  Then there's the conduit, which is a long twisty pipe that magma
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  travels through. It's like the plumbing system,
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  except instead of water, it's liquid rock.
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  Fun times. You've also got lava tubes,
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  which are tunnels that lava carved out during past
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  eruptions. Think of them like secret
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  underground highways, but instead of cars, they used to
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  have rivers of melted rock zooming through.
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  Inside the magma there are crystals, minerals and gases.
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  Water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur.
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  It's like a chemistry experiment gone absolutely wild.
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  And finally, there's the vent, which is the exit door where
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  magma becomes lava and bursts out.
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  Basically, volcanoes are like a secret underground city of heat,
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  pressure and flowing molten rock.
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  They're way cooler than people think, or should I say, way
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  hotter. Sorry, I had to.
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  OK, So what would actually happen if you tried to go inside
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  a volcano? Let's imagine it step by step,
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  and trust me, it gets wild pretty quickly.
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  Step one, approaching the crater, before you even get
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  close to any lava, you'd notice the air getting seriously hot.
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  The ground would be vibrating like it's got its own personal
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  earthquake. And there'd be this smell like
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  rotten eggs mixed with fireworks.
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  Lovely. Those smells come from sulfur
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  and other gases escaping from cracks called fumarole.
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  Already, this is not exactly a Five star Holiday destination.
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  Step 2, The inside heat problem. Volcano heat is not normal heat.
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  Lava can reach 1200°C, or nearly 2200°F.
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  That's hot enough to melt metal, vaporize water instantly, and
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  turn rocks back into liquid. For comparison, chocolate melts
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  at about a 10th of that, and wood bursts into flames at 1/4
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  of that temperature. Inside a volcano, you're dealing
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  with temperatures that are literally off the charts.
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  Even if you had the world's best heat proof suit, you couldn't
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  get close. Your shoes would melt, the air
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  would burn your lungs. Even through a mask.
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  Your equipment would overheat and fail.
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  Nature basically hangs up a sign that says absolutely no
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  visitors. Thanks.
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  Step 3, the gas trap. If the heat didn't stop you, the
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  air would. Volcanoes release all kinds of
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  nasty gases that push oxygen out of the way, make you cough,
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  sting your eyes and, in the case of carbon dioxide, make you pass
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  out. Inside a volcano, gas can gather
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  in invisible pockets. Some are basically invisible,
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  deadly traps. It's like the world's worst game
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  of hide and seek, except you really don't want to find what's
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  hiding. That's why real volcanologists,
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  that's a fancy word for volcano scientists, always carry gas
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  detectors. They're not taking any chances,
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  and neither should you. Although I'm guessing you
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  weren't planning a volcano expedition this weekend anyway.
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  Step 4. The pressure problem.
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  The deeper you go, the more dangerous it gets.
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  Magma chambers are under enormous pressure.
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  Imagine a fizzy drink bottle that's been shaken for an entire
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  hour. Now imagine that bottle is the
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  size of a football stadium and filled with liquid rock.
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  If you got too close to a magma chamber, that pressure could
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  suddenly release. Boom, instant explosion.
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  That's why scientists never try to get near magma chambers.
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  They like being alive. So could you ever get close to
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  lava? Actually, yes.
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  Lava on the surface cools down pretty quickly.
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  Scientists in places like Iceland and Hawaii can stand
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  near it with proper protection and study it up close.
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  But inside a volcano? Absolutely not.
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  It's too hot, too pressurized, and way too unpredictable.
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  It's basically the universe saying I'm going to need you to
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  stay back there. Thanks, but here's where it gets
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  fun. Let's use our imaginations.
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  What if you had a magic 100% volcano proof suit?
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  A suit that never melts, a helmet that gives you unlimited
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  clean air, boots that laugh in the face of danger and a bubble
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  shield against explosions. Now what would you see?
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  Well, inside wouldn't be like a big empty cave.
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  It would be tight, cramped, and glowing.
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  You'd see thick orange magma squeezing through cracks like
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  cosmic toothpaste. Crystals would be floating
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  inside like the world's most extreme glitter.
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  Bubbles would be rising and popping.
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  The rock walls would glow red from the heat.
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  It would be absolutely mesmerizing and absolutely
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  terrifying at the same time. If you made it to a magma
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  chamber it wouldn't look like a lake, it would be more like a
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  slow sticky glowing mass of semi melted rock.
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  You might see giant gas bubbles forming, cracks glowing from the
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  inside, and parts of rock that are half melted and half solid.
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  It's like being inside a gigantic lava bakery where rocks
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  are melting, mixing, rising, sinking and transforming.
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  And get this, lava tornadoes are real.
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  When hot air rises and cold air rushes in, you can get swirling
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  spirals of glowing gas. Imagine a tornado but make it
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  glow orange and way more dangerous.
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  Nature really went all out with volcanoes.
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  A volcano isn't dead or alive, but it acts alive.
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  It rumbles, shakes, moves, breathes out gas, cracks,
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  shifts, and rearranges itself constantly.
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  Being inside would feel like standing inside a giant
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  creature. A really, really hot giant
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  creature that could explode at any moment.
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  Now, kids always ask me this question, so let's answer it
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  safely and scientifically. What would happen if you fell
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  into lava? First of all, lava is not like
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  water. You don't sink into it.
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  It's so thick and sticky that you'd stay on top, like trying
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  to jump onto a giant pudding, except this pudding is 1200° and
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  very, very angry. But here's the thing, the heat
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  would stop you long before you touched it.
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  It radiates so strongly that you can feel it from meters away.
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  So falling into lava like you see in movies?
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  Not really possible. Your body would catch fire from
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  the heat before you even touched it.
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  OK, let's move on from that slightly terrifying thought.
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  What happens before a volcano erupts?
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  Inside a volcano, lots of warning signs tell scientists
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  something big is coming. There are more earthquakes.
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  As the ground shakes from magma pushing upward, gas levels
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  increase so the volcano releases more fumes.
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  The mountain actually swells. Yes, the whole volcano literally
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  inflates slightly, like a balloon.
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  And the ground temperature rises because hotter magma means
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  hotter ground. Scientists measure all these
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  things with sensors, drones, satellites and robots.
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  Fun fact, many robots melt inside volcanoes.
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  They give amazing data for a few minutes and then become robot
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  soup. It's a noble sacrifice in the
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  name of science. Could we ever explore inside a
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  volcano for real? Scientists are definitely
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  trying. We now use flying drones, magma
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  resistant robots, ultra strong cables, cameras on long poles,
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  satellites with heat sensors, and instruments that can measure
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  gas from miles away. One day we might build a robot
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  that can enter a magma chamber and actually survive long enough
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  to tell us what it saw. But that day isn't today.
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  Volcanoes remain one of the last no go zones on Earth.
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  Now here's something really cool.
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  Even though volcanoes can be scary, they're actually super
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  important for Earth. They make new land.
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  Hawaii exists because of volcanoes.
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  They create precious minerals like gold, diamonds, and gems.
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  They helped make our atmosphere. Early Earth's air came from
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  volcano gases. They recycle Earth's crust by
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  breaking down old rock and creating new rock.
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  And they make soil super rich, which is amazing for farming.
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  Without volcanoes, Earth would be a very boring, lifeless rock
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  floating in space. So even though they can be
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  dangerous, we kind of need them. They're like that friend who's a
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  bit chaotic but makes lifeway more interesting.
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  Could anyone survive inside a volcano?
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  Short answer, Nope. Long answer, even though humans
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  are pretty clever, volcanoes are way more powerful than us.
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  But here's something amazing. There are creatures that survive
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  near volcanoes. There are extremophiles, which
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  are microbes that absolutely love heat.
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  There are tube worms that live near underwater volcano vents.
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  Picas and foxes live around warm volcanic slopes.
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  And yes, lava crickets are a real thing.
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  Some life forms treat volcanoes like a warm, cozy spa day.
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  Humans, not so much. All right, curious kids, it's
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  time for the volcano quiz. I'm going to ask you 3 fun
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  questions about volcanoes. You'll have a few seconds to
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  think about each one, and then I'll give you the answer.
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  Ready. Let's go.
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  Question one. What do we call melted rock
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  before it reaches the surface? Is it lava, magma, or hot stone
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  soup? The answer is magma.
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  Once it reaches the surface and flows out of the volcano, then
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  we call it lava. It's like a superhero that
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  changes its name depending on where it is.
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  Question 2. Can you sink into lava like you
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  would sink into water? Nope.
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  Lava is so thick and dense that you'd actually stay on top of
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  it, sort of like trying to jump onto a giant pudding.
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  Of course, you'd burst into flames from the heat before you
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  touched it, but technically you wouldn't sink.
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  Science is fun, isn't it? Question three What's the name
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  of the enormous pieces that make up Earth's outer layer?
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  The ones that move around slowly and create volcanoes when they
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  interact? The answer is tectonic plates.
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  They're like giant puzzle pieces that very slowly shift around,
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  and when they bump into each other or pull apart, that's when
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  the volcanic magic happens. So there you have it, curious
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  kids. Volcanoes are dangerous,
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  beautiful, mysterious, creative, destructive, life giving, and
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  one of Earth's greatest wonders. Going inside a real 1?
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  Not possible, at least not yet. But exploring them with your
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  imagination? Absolutely.
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  Next time you see a volcano in a documentary or a book, remember
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  that inside that mountain is a whole world of heat, power,
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  bubbling rock, and ancient mysteries.
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  And thanks to science, we get to learn all about it without
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  melting, which is nice. If you enjoyed today's episode,
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  make sure to share it with your friends and subscribe so you
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  never miss an adventure. And if you have a curious
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  question you'd like me to answer, head over to our website
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  at curiouskidcast.com and send it in.
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  Who knows, your question might be featured in the next episode.
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  Thanks for listening, Curious kids.
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  I'm Andy, and I'll see you next time on the Curious Kid cast.
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  Stay curious, stay safe, and definitely stay away from
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  volcanoes. Hey.
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  Let your questions rise. Listen up to the airless sky.
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  Everyone is as far so bright. Curious Kid cast Ignite the
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  Light.