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Liquid nitrogen + balloon science experiment : Fizzics Education

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Liquid nitrogen + balloon

Liquid nitrogen + balloon

Follow FizzicsEd 150 Science Experiments:

You will need:

NOTHING. Do not try this at home or school unless you have formal training. You are also unlikely to have liquid nitrogen at home, or in your school.

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1 Liquid nitrogen on a balloon

Put on the safety glasses and gloves.

Holding the balloon with metal tongs, carefully pour the liquid nitrogen over the surface of the balloon.

Watch what happens.

2 A person blowing on a balloon

Hold balloon up and allow the balloon to drip the liquid nitrogen off it.

Watch what happens as the balloon warms up! Blow on it to transfer more heat.

3 A man watching bubbles pour out of a large measuring cylinder

Get the Unit of Work on States of Matter here!

  • What are the different states of matter?
  • How does heat affect the size of materials?
  • How does liquid nitrogen affect materials and much more!

Includes cross-curricular teaching ideas, student quizzes, a sample marking rubric, scope & sequences & more

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4 A cloud of liquid nitrogen vaur on a deask with a science presenter
5 Teacher showing how to do an experiment outside to a group of kids.

Online courses for teachers & parents

– Help students learn how science really works

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Why Does This Happen?

Charles’s Law says that for each 1-degree drop in temperature an ideal gas will drop at the same rate in volume. (i.e. it’s proportional). Liquid nitrogen is – 196 degrees Celsius and causes the air inside the balloon to reduce in volume as it cools very quickly. As the air inside the balloon drops in volume, it exerts less pressure on the inside of the balloon. The air outside of the balloon has much higher pressure compared to the cold air inside the balloon… this pressure difference allows high-pressure air outside of the balloon to ‘squash’ the balloon. When you blow on the ‘squashed balloon’, the air inside warms up again and in doing so increases in pressure and is able to get bigger again!

Variables to test

  • Does this work with ice?
  • What about dry ice?
  • Will you see this effect with your freezer?

A man with a glove above a liquid nitrogen vapour cloud

Learn more!

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