Earth’s sciences in the kitchen
What do chocolate and coffee have in common with volcanoes and lakes? Explore simple hands-on experiments and discover how everyday experiences in the kitchen can help explain fascinating processes inside and on our planet.
What do chocolate and coffee have in common with volcanoes and lakes? More than you might think. Many everyday ingredients behave in surprisingly similar ways to materials found on Earth. The same physical principles that shape lava flows or ocean waves can also be observed in your kitchen.
Discover how the smooth texture of melting chocolate can help explain the flow of lava. And find out why a cup of coffee can reveal the same physics as water movements in lakes.
At our booth, you can explore a series of simple hands-on experiments inspired by both cooking and Earth science. Many of them can even be repeated at home. Through these everyday examples, you will gain insight into some of the fascinating processes that shape our planet.
Come and discover how your kitchen can become a laboratory for exploring Earth sciences.
Other events by the Institute of Geophysics at Scientifica:
Show: Science in the Kitchen – A low-temperature cooking show
Sunday, 30. August, 2026, 12.00
The movie illustrates the two experiments we are presenting as analogy of Lava flows and the ‘Seiche’, a free oscillation of a lake (Video: J. Noir, L. Frey and M. Noir).
