Ash
When researching on the nature of ash, we found that ash is made up of mostly dry silica with variable amounts of rock fragments and crystals. In order to replicate this, we prioritised having variable particle sizes as well as the dryness of our ash replica. Using a mixture of tapioca starch and plain flour as our base, we mixed in dirt, soil, and actual lava rocks, we were able to replicate ash. It was important to ensure that the soil and dirt were sundried before mixing.
We learnt that volcanic ash grain size is less than 2mm.
We used a mixture of flour and starch to simulate the volcanic ash. Starch and flour have grain size of about 0.05mm diameter. This is a smaller grain size, meaning that there were more significant cohesive forces between particles. As such, the mixture was too compact, and together with Singapore’s humid air, it was difficult for our sampling bottle to enter the ‘ash’
We will use mixture of sand and starch and crushed pumice for exhibition! Sand and starch for a more accurate depiction of the grain size, and crushed pumice to mimic volcanic ash density (since pumice and ash come from the same source: magma).