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Balloon Columns
ZOOMsci Index | your results | list of activities
Sent in by:
Mason of ME
Can you walk on water? How 'bout air?
- garbage bag filled with air
- balloons filled with air
- balloons filled with water
- tape
- 4 24" by 24" cardboard squares
1. Since you can lift a table with air in the ZOOMsci Airlift, try lifting yourself or a friend.
2. Check with a grown-up before you begin, and make sure you've got someone to spot you so you don't fall as you do your testing.
3. Make two strong platforms by gluing two pieces of cardboard together so that the lines in the cardboard are going in the opposite directions.
4. Try standing on one of your platforms supported by a garbage bag filled with air. Does it hold your weight?
5. Now try balloons filled with air. Predict which will hold your weight better.
6. Start out standing on one of your platforms supported by a bunch of balloons. The balloons stay in place best if you sandwich them between two platforms. Try taping the balloons to the bottom platform and then putting the second platform on top.
7. Have a friend pop one balloon at a time. What happens when the balloons pop? How few balloons still support your weight?
8. Try the same thing with balloons filled with water. Be sure you do this testing somewhere that can get really wet, like outside or in an inflatable wading pool.
Which holds your weight better, balloons filled with water or balloons filled with air? Which substance can hold your weight with the fewest balloons? Why do you think one works better than the other? Be sure to send us your results.
You can also send us your pictures or video of this ZOOMsci:
ZOOMsci
ZOOM
Box 350
Boston, MA 02134
Sarius, age 9 of Chicago, KY wrote:
My mom and I did this project and we hasd a lot of fun. I stood on tip of a shie box and it held my weight. I weigh 72pounds.
Cindy, age 9 of Los Angeles, CA wrote:
What we did was: me and my brother we blew up a medium sized ballon and we put a card board box on it and standed on the cardboard. It holded our wieght. I wiegh 70 pounds and my brother 65 pounds.
Lexi, age 12 of Aurora, CO wrote:
This experiment was sooo fun! I didn't fill my balloons with water or air. I filled them with... vanilla pudding! It was hard to get the pudding inside the balloons, but, once I stood on them, I got down to just one balloon! When both my sister and I stood on the balloon, it popped immediately. I think it depends on the brand of the balloon and how much weight you put on it. I weigh 75 pounds and my 2-year-old sister weighs 25 pounds. Together, we weigh 100 pounds! How much weight can you get on one pudding-filled balloon before it pops?
Shirley, age 11 of Markham, ON wrote:
When you did the balloon experiment, you put cardboard under garrett. Instead, my cousins and I just piled on top of eachother. 1 balloon filled with air, held 4 persons weight and it didn't pop! I think that your balloon might have a thiner surface than the balloon that I used.
Elise and Justine of Saint John, NB wrote:
When we did it with air it worked really good. After we popped all except for 1 it would wiggle from side to side because it was uneaven. With water we didn't pop them cause we were inside and we didn't want to get wet. We stood on it together with two balloons and it didn't break!
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