Baking Soda Experiments

No one will get light-headed blowing up this balloon, which is inflated through the power of a chemical reaction. There are lots of fun baking soda experiments, this is a good one.

What You Will Need

– an empty plastic bottle
– ½ cup vinegar
– small balloon
– baking soda
– funnel or piece of paper bent into a funnel

What You Will Do

Pour the vinegar into the bottle.

Next comes the tricky part. Stretch out the balloon to loosen it and fill it just over half way full with baking soda. Use your funnel or makeshift paper funnel for this step.

Carefully attach the neck of the balloon to the opening of the bottle, making sure to not let any baking soda into the bottle. Make sure the balloon covers the entire opening of the bottle.

Now for the fun part! Lift the balloon straight up so that the baking soda falls out into the bottle. The ensuing chemical reaction should quickly inflate your balloon! Watch it happen here.

What is Going On?

Like many previous experiments, the baking soda and vinegar combination in the fizz inflator create an acid-base reaction that forms a gas. Gasses expand more than solids and liquids, so when the carbon dioxide gas quickly fills up the bottle it moves into the only available space for it- the uninflated balloon.