ClassX Video Lessons Youtube Channel Next Generation Science Lighthouse Lab – How Does a Hot Air Balloon Work?
Welcome to the lighthouse! It’s a beautiful morning for a hot air balloon ride. I’m Halle, your pilot today. Before we take off, let’s learn how hot air balloons fly.
Hot air balloons are incredible machines that can lift us high into the sky. But how do they work? Let’s explore some basic science to find out.
A hot air balloon has three main parts: the envelope, the burner, and the basket.
The envelope is the big, colorful balloon you see floating in the sky. It’s made from lightweight materials like nylon or polyester.
The burner is the part that heats the air inside the envelope. It burns propane gas to create heat.
The basket is where the passengers stand during the flight.
The burner is the key to making the balloon rise. When the burner heats the air inside the envelope, the air expands and becomes lighter than the cooler air outside. This lighter air makes the balloon rise.
To control the height of the balloon, the pilot adjusts the temperature of the air inside the envelope. To go up, the pilot heats the air. To go down, the pilot lets the air cool. The envelope has vents at the top to release hot air and let cooler air in, helping the balloon descend.
Now that we know how it works, let’s try it out! We’ll fire up the burners to heat the air inside the envelope. As the hot air becomes less dense than the cooler air outside, the balloon starts to lift off. Up we go! The view from up here is amazing!
Hot air balloons are such a fun way to fly. I hope you enjoyed learning about how they work. See you next time for another adventure!
Build Your Own Mini Balloon: Gather some lightweight materials like tissue paper or a small plastic bag, a hairdryer, and a string. With the help of an adult, use the hairdryer to blow warm air into your mini balloon. Watch how the warm air makes it rise! Discuss with your friends or family why the balloon rises when the air inside is heated.
Temperature Experiment: Fill two balloons with air, one with warm air and the other with cold air. Use a hairdryer to warm one balloon and place the other in a refrigerator for a few minutes. Observe what happens to the size and weight of each balloon. Which one feels lighter? Talk about how this relates to how a hot air balloon works.
Observation Walk: Go on a walk with a notebook and pencil. Look for things in nature or around your neighborhood that rise or float. It could be a leaf in the wind or a feather. Write down or draw what you see and think about how air and temperature might be affecting these objects. Share your findings with your class or family.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the YouTube transcript:
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[Music] [Applause] [Music] Thank you [Music] Thank you [Music] Welcome to the lighthouse! What a fantastic morning to take a hot air balloon ride. I’m Halle, and I’ll be your pilot today. Before we take off, let’s head back to the lab to learn how these things fly.
Hot air balloons are amazing machines that can take us high into the sky, but how do they work? To answer that, we need to first look into some basic science.
Hot air balloons are made of three main parts: the envelope, the burner, and the basket. The envelope is the big colorful balloon that you see floating in the sky. It’s usually made of a lightweight material like nylon or polyester. The burner is the part that heats the air inside the envelope, and the basket is where the passengers stand.
The burner is what makes the balloon rise. It works by burning propane gas that heats up the air flowing into the envelope. When air is heated, it expands and becomes less dense than the air surrounding it. This causes the balloon to rise as the lighter air inside the envelope is pushed up by the heavier air outside.
Controlling the height of the balloon is all about controlling the air temperature inside the envelope. To go up, we heat the air inside the envelope, and to go down, we let the air cool. The pilot does this by adjusting the flame of the burner. The envelope also has vents at the top to help let the hot air out and the cooler air in, which helps to bring down the balloon.
And that’s how hot air balloons work! So next time you’re flying high in the sky in a hot air balloon, you’ll know the science behind it.
Okay, now let’s head back to the field and put this into practice.
Now let’s add some heat to our envelope by firing the burners. Great! The hot air inside is less dense than the cooler air outside. We’re starting to lift off! Up we go! Wow, what a fantastic view! Hot air balloons are such a fun way to fly. I’ll see you again soon. Bye!
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