Hello again! Gather around, all you budding scientist! Let’s do a fun experiment today. It’s an experiment that has been around for a long time, but is always fun to show to kids. You’ll need the following items: some vinegar, some baking soda, an empty water bottle, a balloon and a funnel.

The idea of this experiment is to show that you can blow up a balloon by making a chemical reaction. No blowing involved! 😉 Begin by filling the empty water bottle about 1/3 of the way up with the vinegar.

Insert the end of the funnel into the opening of the balloon. You might need to stretch the balloon a bit to get it on.

Put 2-3 spoonsful of baking soda in the funnel and shake it down into the balloon.

When you are finished with that step, remove the balloon from the funnel.

This next step is important. Stretch the opening of the balloon over the opening of the water bottle, BUT make sure to keep the balloon hanging down so that none of the baking soda falls into the bottle! Look at the next picture to help you understand what I mean.

Pull the balloon down over the bottle opening so it is completely sealed by the balloon. After you are sure the balloon is on the bottle, slowly pour the baking soda in the balloon into the bottle. It will begin to fizz – this is the chemical reaction! Your balloon will start to inflate!

As the reaction in the bottle continues to take place, your balloon will grow bigger.

And bigger!

And BIGGER! As you can see, I was afraid to let go of the balloon on the bottle! LOL I could just imagine it coming off and flying all over my kitchen and dining room!

So why did the chemical reaction happen? Well, the baking soda is a base and the vinegar is an acid. When they are combined, the reaction gives off a gas called carbon dioxide. That’s what inflated your balloon. 🙂 After most of the fizzing reaction was over, I did get brave enough to let go of the balloon finally. 😉

I hope you have fun trying this experiment! Congratulations on being a scientist today! 🙂