Mrs. day's hot experiment

Marshall McCary: Staff Writer

This week, in Mrs. Sara Day’s chemistry class, she introduced her 11th grade students to a few gas laws. The one in which she enforced the most was the Ideal Gas Law. The Ideal Gas Law states that the Pressure(P) times the Volume(V) is equal to the number of molecules times the gas constant(R) times the Temperature. It is better understood as PV=nRT.

To put their knowledge to the test, the students constructed hot air balloons with just tissue paper and stick glue. Once completed, Mrs. Day took her students to the center of the football field to prepare the balloons for takeoff. She ignited a propane burner and filled the balloons with propane gas. Once the balloons were filled with the hot air, she closed it and pushed it off towards the sky so that it could go wherever the wind blew it.

Mrs. Day explained to the students that the hot air balloon rises because of the hot air inside of it rises. For example, where does all the heat go when you are in your home? It rises to the ceiling. The inside air that has been heated rises due to the difference of density between the hot air particles and cold air particles. The heated air which is inside the balloon is less dense than the air on the outside of the balloon, the cool air. Objects that are less dense rise. Keeping this information in mind the students watched their hot air balloons float away successfully. This was a fun experiment for her students.