Q&A for How to Blow up a Balloon With Baking Soda and Vinegar

If you reduce the bottle size (volume) without changing the amount of soda and vinegar, then the balloon will blow faster and bigger.

Yes, because if you put too much it will pop and if you put too little, it will not inflate.

Yes, it should still work correctly.

The forward reaction between the two reactants stops, and the reaction reaches equilibrium. Thus, no more CO2, or H2O is produced to inflate the balloon more.

No, it will not affect the balloon inflation.

Just get the baking soda and white vinegar. It is a very simple experiment. Record the balloon when the mixture of baking soda and vinegar inflates.

Because it is a science experiment and not an art project.

The purpose is to see what happens when carbon dioxide is produced. It's a basic science experiment.

No, as baking soda and vinegar create carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. Helium and sodium hexafluoride change your voice.

No.

The balloon rises because mixed baking soda and vinegar makes a gas that makes the balloon float.

Technically the amount of vinegar--but only because it is a liquid, and the more liquid that is in the bottle, the less air there can be; thus, the air must be pushed into the balloon (pressure!). Technically, though, it is a reaction between the acetic acid and sodium bicarb, so limiting one will limit the other.

A balloon filled with baking soda and vinegar, or the gas from the reaction, cannot float up. The gas that is produced from the reaction is carbon dioxide, which is the same gas you exhale. For a balloon to float, it must be filled with helium.

The dependent variable is the volume of the balloon. The independent variable is the time it takes for the balloon to inflate.

Acetic Acid (C2H3OOH) when put in water dissociates into H+ ions and acetate ions (C2H3O2-). When the baking soda is put in the water, it dissociates into sodium ions(Na+) and bicarbonate ions (HCO3-). The sodium and acetate ions would make sodium acetate, but that's still soluble in water so they stay dissolved. The H+ ions combine with the HCO3- to form carbonic acid (H2CO3) which is unstable, so it turns into carbon dioxide and water. The gas that inflates the balloon is the CO2.

I would do trial and error for this - as you create more CO2 gas, the pressure within the system increases, and the balloon expands to reduce this pressure. While you could do some stoichiometry to solve this, the unknown increase in pressure will hinder your results.

A colorless, odorless gas produced by burning carbon and organic compounds and by respiration. It is naturally present in air (about 0.03 percent) and is absorbed by plants in photosynthesis.

No. The reaction of the vinegar and baking soda mixing does not create helium, therefore your balloon will sink.

No, it won't.

Latex balloons are best because they are stretchy and thin so they can get really big.

It will create a chemical reaction, which will release carbon dioxide and inflate the balloon.

It will pop if there is too much vinegar in the bottle. It won't inflate if there is too little. Just the right amount (it may vary with bottle size) should inflate it until the gas runs out.

The control variable is the equipment and products used, as they stay the same throughout the experiment.