Place the funnel in the bottle and pour in 50mL of vinegar.
Put the funnel into the balloon and then add a spoonful of bicarbonate soda.
Carefully stretch the balloon over the top of the bottle. Keep the end of the balloon lower than the bottle opening to prevent the bicarbonate soda from falling into the vinegar when you’re not ready.
Whilst holding the balloon onto the opening of the bottle, raise up the balloon to allow the bicarbonate soda to fall into the vinegar in the bottle.
The balloon rises as it fills with carbon dioxide gas!
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Why Does This Happen:
Reacting vinegar and bicarbonate soda together produces carbon dioxide and water.
The reaction is as follows
Vinegar + Bicarbonate Soda —> Carbonic Acid + Sodium Acetate
The carbonic acid is unstable though, so it breaks down into liquid water and carbon dioxide as a gas, causing the massive ‘build-up’ of pressure you saw in the experiment.
The water is left in the vinegar solution whilst the carbon dioxide rises and fills the balloon on the bottle.
Variable testing
- Change the amount of bicarbonate soda
- Change the amount of vinegar
- Does the size of the bottle matter?
- Does the temperature of the vinegar matter?
From colour changes to slimy science, we’ve got your kitchen chemistry covered!
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