SUBJECTS: Science
YEARS: 5–6, 7–8
All substances are made up of tiny particles.
A change in temperature can change the way these particles behave.
In this science experiment the Surfing Scientist demonstrates how a gas behaves when it is heated.
Find out whether the balloon gets sucked or pushed into the bottle!
Things to think about
- 1.Unlike an ordinary balloon, a hot air balloon is not 'pumped up' with air. Instead, the air inside is simply heated by a furnace. Do you know why heating the air fills the balloon and results in it floating upwards?
- 2.Pay careful attention to the description of what happens to air (which is a gas) when it is heated or cooled. Elliot says the balloon was 'sucked' into the bottle. Ruben the Surfing Scientist says it was 'pushed'. How does Ruben explain this?
- 3.The Surfing Scientist explains that when air is heated up it expands, and when it cools down it shrinks. What did you observe happening to the balloon that provides evidence of this?
- 4.The experiment is called 'Egg in the Bottle', but a water filled balloon is used instead. Try the experiment yourself using a hard boiled egg that has been peeled. Begin by writing a list of the equipment you will need. Don't forget to get help from an adult with lighting the match and paper. Try bottles with openings of different diameters. What is the smallest diameter the egg can be pushed through?
Production Date: 2008
Copyright
Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).