It’s about time we introduced fire into a few of these experiments! Which of course means (before any red flags are raised), an adult helper will is highly recommended this time around. This is the ‘Fireproof Balloon’ experiment and only requires 3 things to work: You will need:
- Water
- A balloon
- A lighter of any kind
Method:
- Despite this being a very simple experiment, as mentioned above an adult will need to take part as well since this experiment involves fire. But before we get to that, let’s focus on the balloon. Firstly, take your balloon and stretch out the material so that it’ll be easier to blow up and tie at the end when inflated. After that, you’ll want to fill it up with as much cold water as you can.
- With your balloon now filled with water, the next step is to inflate it and of course, tie up the end. This should result in a blown up balloon with a pool of cold water inside of it.
- Time to tag in your adult helper, because now it’s time to play with fire! Before you go any further, be aware of your surroundings just in the case the balloon pops and the water spills out! Grab your balloon in one hand and your lighter in the other. What you’ll want to do is hover the balloon over the lighter so that the flame is directly under the pool of water inside the balloon. Gradually bring the lighter closer to the balloon and see what happens.
- If your balloon pops, it means something went wrong! Try again with more/colder water. However, if everything has gone correctly, the balloon should be unaffected by the lighter, even when the flame is touching the outside of it. But why is that? Let’s find out in ‘The Science Bit’ segment!
