Reflection:
The topic we discussed in class this week was viscosity. I learned that viscosity is the resistance of a substance to flow, and that it can be affected by temperature and composition of the substance. I have seen how temperature affects viscosity when I butter is left out of the refrigeration. As the temperature of the butter increases, it becomes softer (AKA less viscous), making it easier to spread (flow). During our experiments, I also saw that viscosity is affected by composition. The magmas we tried were made with different ingredients, so they had different viscosities. We actually saw them flow at different rates, which proves that composition affects viscosity.
I still don't get how just modifying the amount of silica in a magma could change the viscosity. Sure it worked when our examples were made from different things, but if they have the same thing the viscosity should remain the same. In order to answer this question, I need to ask or find out how just changing the amount of a material like silica could change the viscosity of a substance. I could also research what is the shape of silica in rocks since that could also give me an idea of why silica affects viscosity.
