Blowing Up Balloons with CO2 - A Unique Hands On Science Night

                           Blowing Up Balloons With co2


Question
What happens when you mix an acid (vinegar) and a base (baking soda) together?



Hypothesis

We predict when mixing vinegar and baking soda together it will make a balloon expand. We think this because when you mix a base and an acid together it creates co2 which will make the balloon expand.

Materials

Picture
  • 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
  • 1/4 cup of vinegar
  • 1 plastic bottle
  • 1 balloon
  • 1 plastic funnel
  • plastic gloves

Safety Procedures

We recommend wearing gloves during the experiment.

Procedure

  1. Before you begin,make sure that you stretch out the balloon to make it as easy as possible to inflate
  2. Place about 1/4 cup of vinegar in the bottle
  3. Place 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda inside the balloon
  4. Attach the balloon to the top of the bottle,taking care to keep the balloon hanging down from the side of the bottle
  5. Quickly raise the balloon over the bottle and shake the baking soda down the balloon



Special Needs
No special needs.




What We Learned

We also learned that after about an hour and a half the balloon will start to deflate.

We learned that using different types of vinegar did not make a difference in the size of the balloon. We think it is because the different vinegars had the same amount of acidity.  

We also learned that using more baking soda makes the balloon expand more. 

Watch us in action:
Acid
Each bottle had a different type of vinegar - apple cider, red wine, and white. Each type of vinegar had 5% acidity.  

As you can see, the type of vinegar did not make a difference because they have the same amount of acidity. 
Base
Each bottle had a different amount of baking soda - 1 teaspoon, ½ teaspoon, and ¼ teaspoon. 

As you can see, adding more baking soda created a bigger reaction. The bottle with the most baking soda made the biggest balloon.  


The Science behind it

Mixing a base(baking soda)with an acid (vinegar) creates co2 which is trying to escape the bottle but the balloon catches it and that makes the balloon expand. 



Conclusions

When we mixed baking soda with vinegar the balloon expanded. Therefore our hypothesis was proven correct.


About Abby

Hi,my name is Abby. I picked this project because I saw someone else do it and i thought it was cool that the co2 made the balloon blow up.

About Juliana

Hi,my name is Juliana and I picked this project because it is fun to see the balloon expand.