A flying balloon is perfect for any holiday event. Typically, commercial flying balloons are filled with a light, volatile gas such as helium. It is almost impossible to obtain such gas at home without special equipment. But helium is not the only gas that can be used for such purposes. At home, you can easily obtain hydrogen, which is also suitable.
But here it is worth considering that hydrogen is extremely explosive, so it is undesirable to make more than one ball. In general, the entire experiment must be carried out outside the home and in the open air.
Will need
For the experiment we will need:
- - aluminium foil,
- - pipe cleaner (Titanium, Mole) - Caution! Alkali!
- - plastic bottle,
- - bucket with water,
- - rubber ball,
- - funnel,
- - water,
- - etc.
Making a flying ball with your own hands
When conducting the experiment, be sure to use rubber gloves and special glasses to protect your eyes!
First of all, roll the kitchen foil into small strips and cut into small pieces. And collect it in a small plastic cup.
We got 7 grams, you can take more foil, the reaction will proceed faster and there will be more hydrogen.
We also take a pipe cleaner (TITANIUM or MOLE) in granules, 19 grams is enough for us. Be careful this is a caustic substance, wear rubber gloves. If you get it on your hands, rinse with plenty of water.
Next, take a plastic bottle, fill it one-third with water, and lower it into a bucket of cold water. For convenience, we take a funnel and pour our aluminum crumbs and pipe cleaner into the bottle, after which we quickly put the ball on the neck of the bottle so as not to release the hydrogen. It is better to insulate the neck of the bottle with electrical tape.
The reaction begins, the balloon is completely inflated in about 15-20 minutes, the plastic bottle is heated and so that it does not melt from overheating, it is dipped into a bucket of cold water.
As a result of the reaction of aluminum, sodium hydroxide and water, sodium tetrahydroxyaluminate and hydrogen are formed, which inflates our balloon.
When the ball is inflated, we squeeze the bottle so that part of the hydrogen from the bottle goes into the ball, twist the tail tighter and remove the electrical tape, after which we remove the ball from the neck.
We rinse the tail with water; if our balloon is not fully inflated, you can inflate it a little like a regular balloon.
We ask someone to hold the ball and tie the tail tightly.
The ball flies very well and will delight you and your children. To prevent the balloon from deflating in half a day, use a gel for flying balloons, for example, “hi float”.
Conclusion
At the end of the experiment, I would like to add that such a ball will descend to the ground after about 6-12 hours of flight. To increase this time, you can use a special gel, which is sprayed in specialized stores that sell such balls.
Be careful: a pipe cleaner (Titanium, Mole) is used to make the ball - this is a caustic alkali, be extremely careful!
Also, do not bring the inflated balloon close to the fire. Otherwise, the hydrogen in the ball will make a loud bang.
