Students may think that teachers are just full of hot air sometimes, but on October 24th students were hoping that Mrs. Spence and Mr. A. provided as much hot air as possible.
Students designed, constructed, and tested their hot-air balloons in the hallways of ZHS. As you probably know, hot air is less dense than cool air, so the less dense hot air rises through the more dense cool air of the hallway. With their balloons filled with hot air, will there be enough lift to overcome the 9.8 N/kg force of attraction of the Earth on the balloons? Some teams witnessed the thrill of victory while others the agony of defeat. Most students used either tissue paper or plastic for the construction: both have advantages and disadvantages. Plastic can melt, but it is very light weight. Paper can burn, but it is easy to work with.
See you in physics next year for your turn at this challenging project!
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