Science Experiment

I did a science experiment with the kids today. It failed. We all put on safety glasses, and I lit a candle and blew up a balloon. I asked the kids to predict what would happen if I lowered the balloon near the flame. They both thought it would pop. They covered their ears, and I put the balloon near the flame. It popped. So far, so good.

Then I filled the balloon with water before blowing it up and asked them what they thought would happen when I lowered it onto the flame. They thought it would explode water all over the place. Actually, the water was supposed to boil inside the balloon without popping it, and I was going to talk about heat transfer.

It started out well. I held the bottom of the balloon directly in the flame, and it didn't pop. The kids were duly amazed. The flame left a black mark on the bottom on the balloon, and I explained that it was carbon from the flame.

Sarah was cowered behind the wall, barely peeking around so she could see. Noah had all his Matchbox cars lined up on the table, pretending they were soldiers in a battle. The water never boiled. Suddenly, the balloon exploded and water went everywhere. Sarah shouted, "Run for your life!" and did just that. Noah looked at his car soldiers, now sitting in a pool of water, and said, "I guess I should have evacuated the troops."

I think I either put in too much water or too much air. We'll do some more experimenting and see what happens.