takeaframe

So here’s the thing. The kids are growing up, and, well, Dad is falling behind. How do you strike a spark in the 5 year old mind. He wanted an experiment, and the simplest one was provided by YouTube. Put baking soda in a small bottle and then chuck in vinegar and a n alkaline base reaction occurs releasing CO2. So we completed this by placing a balloon over the bottle and inflating the balloon with CO2. It took a few tries, and it was messy, but we got it in the end. The real experiment had yet to begin!
I filled the second balloon with air and the we compared how they fell. The balloon with CO2 consistently fell faster than the balloon filled with air. By this simple device I could explain gravity, and invisible gases to my son. Complex but easily explained in the end.