How to make a hot air balloon at home

Using a few items from around the house you can make your own hot air balloon.

Materials

• Hair dryer
• Trash bag
• Tap

Instructions

STEP 1: Using the hair dryer fill the trash bag with hot air. NOTE: You will get the best results with this experiment if it's done outside on a cold morning.

STEP 2: Release the hot air balloon once your feel the trash bag tugging.

Explanation

The hot air on the inside of the trash bag is lighter than the air surrounding the trash bag, which causes your homemade hot air balloon to float.

Jason Lindsey is a Science Outreach Educator with Hooked on Science. Check out his website "Hooked On Science" at hookedonscience.org for webcasts and experiments that might get you hooked on science. Send him your science questions at jlindsey@hookedonscience.org. More science experiments can be found at www.semissourian.com.