How to Do a Bottle Balloon Blow Up Experiment
Budding scientists jump at the chance to blow things up. Though in this experiment, the only thing blowing up is the balloon, it's still a really cool way to see the effects of carbon dioxide gas. With very few materials, you can amaze your friends with your talented feat!
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Things You'll Need
- Empty bottle (preferably with a narrow neck)
- Balloon
- 1 to 2 tbsp. vinegar
- Baking soda
- 1 to 2 tbsp. water
- funnel
Instructions
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1
Gather the materials for your bottle balloon blow up. You'll need a clean, empty bottle, a balloon, white vinegar, water, baking soda and a funnel. Try to find a bottle with a thin neck. Single-serve soda bottles are ideal for this experiment.
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2
Pour about 1 inch of vinegar and 1 inch of water into the bottom of the bottle. If you're not very good at eyeballing measurements, then use a 1:1 ratio of liquid. If you use 1 to 2 tbsp. each, you should have it just about right.
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3
Place the neck of the funnel inside the balloon. Slowly pour baking soda into the funnel until the balloon is about half full. If it's difficult to get the baking soda into the balloon, remove the funnel, blow up the balloon to stretch it out a little bit, deflate it and try again.
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4
Attach the balloon to the neck of the bottle. Stretch the top of the balloon over the bottle, making sure it's very secure and that none of the baking soda has fallen into the bottle. The balloon will flop to the side because of the weight of the baking soda. That's fine as long as the weight doesn't cause the balloon to detach from the bottle.
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5
Grasp the balloon where it attaches to the neck of the bottle with one hand and grab the heavy end of the balloon with the other hand. Let the baking soda pour into the bottle.
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6
Listen to the pop, fizz and crackle as the baking soda interacts with the water and vinegar to create a carbon dioxide reaction.
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7
Hold on tight to the neck and balloon as the gas rises and begins to blow up the balloon!
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Tips & Warnings
Though latex balloons work very well for this experiment, make sure nobody involved has a latex allergy!
