What is the difference in lava and magma?

Question

A lot of people use these words interchangeably. What is the difference between these two words and what they are talking about?

Answer 1

1. Magma is molten rock which forms underground because of decrease in pressures on the Earth's mantle and crust, and friction due to the movement of tectonic plates.
2. Lava forms when magma erupts from a volcano and reaches the earth's surface. When pressure becomes high, the magma can erupt through a volcano. When magma gets in contact with the cooler atmosphere it loses heat and starts the process of solidification of molten rock into lava. As lava flows down the volcano and continues to cool down it can form various landforms.
3. In summary Magma is molten rock in the Earth's mantle and crust (underground). Lava forms once the Magma errupts out of the volcano and reach the surface of the earth and starts flowing and cooling.

Answer 2

Lava is molten rock that leaves the volcano during eruption, while magma is molten rock stored below the surface.

Answer 3

Magma and lava are both molten rock materials found beneath and on the Earth's surface, respectively, but they differ in their locations and states.

1. Magma:
2. Magma is molten rock material located beneath the Earth's surface, typically within the Earth's crust or mantle.
3. It is formed through the melting of rocks under high temperature and pressure within the Earth's interior.
4. Magma is composed of various minerals and dissolved gases, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide.
5. Magma can remain underground for extended periods before it reaches the surface through volcanic eruptions or other geological processes.
6. Lava:
7. Lava is molten rock material that reaches the Earth's surface during volcanic eruptions or through other fissures or vents.
8. It is formed when magma erupts onto the surface and cools and solidifies, either quickly or slowly, depending on the type of eruption and environmental conditions.
9. Lava typically flows downhill from the vent of a volcano, spreading across the surface as it cools and solidifies into various types of volcanic landforms, such as lava flows, lava domes, and volcanic cones.
10. Lava can vary in composition, temperature, and viscosity, resulting in different types of volcanic eruptions and lava flows.

In summary, magma is molten rock material located beneath the Earth's surface, while lava is the molten rock material that reaches the Earth's surface during volcanic eruptions or through other geological processes.

Answer 4

Lava has Left the volcano and is now all over while magma is still inside the volcano, not ready to leave :)

Answer 5

Lava and magma are both molten (liquid) rock. Lava is molten rock that is found on the Earth's surface, where it's exposed to the air. Magma is molten rock found under the Earth's surface - in magma chambers underneath volcanoes or further down in the Earth in the mantle and core. If magma comes up to the Earth's surface, perhaps during a volcanic eruption, then we would start calling it lava!

Answer 6

In science, vocabulary is very important. To sum up the difference between lava and magma, let's talk about what they are both made of. Both are melted rock. The difference between the two is the location. Magma is molten rock that is contained beneath the Earth's crust as a part of the mantle. [What the mantle is would be better discussed elsewhere!] Lava is molten rock that escapes from the Earth's crust through a volcano or rift.

To summarize, magma is contained within the Earth.

Lava means it has escaped and is now on the surface of the planet. Now it's our problem!

I hope this helps to answer the question of the difference between the two.