Tea Bag Balloon

Have you ever seen a hot air balloon in the sky and wondered how it flies? Today we will figure that out! Plus this is just a really neat experiment to do with kids  But parental supervision is needed.  

What You Need: 

·      Tea bag

·      Scissors

·      Lighter or match 

What To Do: 

·      Cut the top off your tea bag

·      Dump out the tea

·      Open the bag so it’s a big empty cylinder (you can click here to watch my video demonstration to see what this is supposed to look like) 

·      Set your open cylinder on a non-flammable surface with open space around and above it

·      Light the top of the cylinder, step back and watch what happens! 

What Is Happening: 

As the fire burns the tea bag, all that warm air is being funneled inside the cylinder. The warm air expands, so in a confined space, it needs somewhere to go. We also know that warm air rises because it’s less dense. Since the tea bag itself is so light, it is carried along with that warm air into the air!