How Do Volcanoes Actually Erupt?

Imagine a bottle full of fizzy soda. When you shake it and open the cap, the soda explodes out, that's kind of like what happens inside a volcano. Deep under the Earth, there’s hot rock called magma. When pressure builds up too much, the magma rushes out through a crack in the ground, and poof, an eruption happens! This is why volcanoes erupt: because the Earth is full of bubbling energy waiting to burst free.

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Examples

  1. A shaken bottle of soda erupts when the cap is removed, just like a volcano.
  2. Steam rising from a hot spring is similar to how volcanoes prepare for an eruption.
  3. When you blow up a balloon and let it go, it shows how pressure can make things burst.

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