These baking soda and vinegar balloons were so much fun! Mix everything together and watch as the reaction creates carbon dioxide and inflates the balloons! As far as science experiments go, this is a pretty simple one. You probably have all of the materials needed for it at home already!
HOW YOU DO IT:
- Use a funnel to add 1/3 cup baking soda to the inside of a balloon.
- Fill a plastic bottle with approximately 1 cup vinegar.
- Attach the balloon to the mouth of the plastic bottle, then lift the balloon upright so the baking soda falls and causes the reaction.
THE SCIENCE BEHIND IT:
So how does it work? The vinegar and the baking soda mix together to make an acid-base reaction. The reaction creates carbon dioxide gas that bubbles up from the mixture. The gas expands up and out of the bottle and inflates the balloon.
Another cool thing about these balloons is that carbon dioxide is heavier than air, so when you drop the balloon, you’ll notice that it falls to the ground faster than a regular balloon filled with air! (So no, these balloons definitely don’t float!)
Stretch the opening of the balloon over the end of the funnel. Pour about 1/3 cup of baking soda into the funnel and shake it around a bit until it all falls through the funnel and into the balloon. Just make sure you hang onto the balloon opening so it doesn’t fall off the funnel.
Rinse all the baking soda off the funnel (or you’ll get fizzing), and then use the funnel to pour the vinegar into a soda or water bottle. I didn’t measure the vinegar, but it was about 1/3 of the soda bottle full, or if you are using a smaller water bottle, fill it up half way. It was approximately 1 cup of vinegar.
Gently stretch the opening of the balloon over the opening of the bottle. Make sure the balloon is draping down at the side to keep the baking soda from falling in.
Lift the balloon so that it is completely upright allowing all of the baking soda to fall into the vinegar.
The balloon seemed to be on the bottle pretty snugly, but I’d still recommend pinching it onto the bottle opening the whole time. The last thing you want is for it to pop off!
As soon as the chemical reaction began, the balloon started to inflate! The more vinegar and baking soda you use, the bigger your balloon will get!
The students had a blast inflating these balloons!
Share your Baking Soda and Vinegar Balloons!
Share your projects with us at mcsa@edupix.org so we can share it with everyone!
