Question:

Which balloon will be able to last longer when touching a flame: a balloon filled with air or a balloon filled with water?

Hypothesis:

I think the balloon filled with water will last longer than the balloon filled with air because water can absorb heat. This means the water takes the heat instead of the rubber so it takes the balloon longer to pop. I think the balloon filled with air will take 1-3 seconds to pop because there is no water to absorb the heat. This means there is no water to protect the balloon so the fire will instantly pop the balloon.

Variables:

Independent variable: We have one balloon filled with air and one filled with water.

Dependent variable: We are trying to measure how long it takes for a balloon filled with air and a balloon filled with water to pop under 60 seconds.

Controlled variable: We are using the same fire for every balloon, same lighter, timer, same foil, and both balloons are made out of the same material.

Materials:

Lighter
2 balloons
Timer
Water
Foil
Data table
Safety goggles
Have an adult near you

Procedure:

1. Use the lighter to light the foil.
2. Blow one of the balloons.
3. Slowly hold the balloon over the fire.
4. When the balloon touches the flame, start timing.
5. Wait for the balloon to explode (60 seconds max).
6. Collect the data on the data table.
7. Take the other balloon and fill it with water.
8. Slowly hold the balloon over the fire.
9. When the balloon touches the flame, start timing.
10. Wait for the balloon to explode (60 seconds max).
11. Collect the data on the data table.
12. Compare the 2 data.
13. Find out if your hypothesis is correct or not.

Results

Conclusion

My hypothesis was correct. I thought the balloon filled with water will last longer than the balloon filled with air and I was right.

In the experiment, we have a candle lit with fire, we have an air balloon and a water balloon. We first held the air balloon above the fire. our group’s balloon popped at 1.18 seconds. for the water balloon, Ms. Chagaris placed a box over the sink and had us do our experiment on there. our balloon popped at 22.7 seconds. every other group’s water balloon didn’t pop for 60 seconds except for our group and group 5.

I think the water balloon lasted longer than the air balloon because water absorbs heat. water takes the heat from the fire instead of the rubber. the water is blocking the heat. the air balloon popped so fast because there is no water to block the heat for it. the rubber takes all the heat and explodes.

I think we did a pretty good job of proving water absorbs heat in our experiment. however, if we want to do the experiment again, I think we should improve a few things. first of all, we should measure how much air and how much water in each balloon. and, I think our group’s water balloon popped so fast is because the balloon touched the spiky part of the candle. another thing is if we blow a balloon with more air than the others, the rubber expands and could be easier to pop.