For this video, I’m going to show you how to use electricity and water to blow up a
party balloon like a mad scientist. These might look like any other party balloons,
but there’s one major difference. These ones explode.
Let’s start this project with the “Water to Fuel Generator” we made in a previous
project, and two, fully charged car batteries.
You can see I’ve got a 4 gauge cable connecting the positive terminal on one battery, to the
negative terminal on the other. And by hooking the jumper cables to the other two posts, we’ve
just created a series circuit that will power our generator.
If we remove the cap from the bubbler and pour in a bit of fresh water, it will push
out any of the stale air, and give us a safe watery platform, for testing small amounts of the gas.
Let’s go ahead and power up the generator by connecting the jumper cables to the two
terminals at the top.
And look at the way the water instantly, begins bubbling and churning. That’s because the
electricity is ripping the water molecules apart, and converting them into hydrogen and
oxygen gas, which make a pretty explosive combination. So, guess what we’re going to try next?
First we’ll need to push the cap back onto the bubbler, so the gas will flow through
the plastic tubing at the top. This way, we can direct it wherever we want.
So what do you think would happen, if we tried blowing up a latex party balloon?
You can see I wrapped a thick elastic band around the tube and the balloon multiple times,
so they’ll stay together hands free. That means we’ll be able to fill our balloons
up safely, from a distance.
Now the generator works just fine regardless of how the the leads are connected, but when
you’re running power to it, the contacts will shower sparks of electricity when you
disconnect them. And since we’re working with explosive gases, I’m sure you can figure
out why that’s a really big problem.
So to reduce the risk of blowing ourselves up, let’s connect the power on the battery
side instead.
This way, if the terminals spark when we make the connection, we’ll be so far away from
the gas that it won’t be much of a hazard.
Now look how fast the gas starts filling up this balloon. At 24 volts, the generator is
producing around 5 liters of hydroxy gas per minute, so it takes less than 2 minutes to
fill the balloon completely.
And check this out. If we pull the balloon off the hose and let it go, it floats.
The elastic keeps all the gas trapped inside, and since the hydrogen is lighter than air,
it rises to the ceiling just like a helium balloon would do. And to make sure it doesn’t
float away and blow something up, it’s a good idea to tie it down somewhere safe.
Now what do you think would happen if we replaced the ribbon, with a fuse? I know what you’re
thinking, but rather than lighting them and sending them into the sky, let’s tape them
to a rod instead so you can see exactly what happens the moment the sparks get through
the rubber. It ignites the gas and makes a very satisfying bang, that kind of sounds
like gunshot.
When the balloons explode, the gas simply turns back into steam and water vapor. And
absorbs back in with the atmosphere.
Now I tried filling another balloon, even bigger, and look how buoyant and lively it
is now. To push the boundaries even further, I went ahead made a whole bunch more, and
it’s pretty mind blowing to realize, that we just filled these party balloons, with
gas we made, from water.
To top it all off, I picked up a SpongeBob balloon from a local party store, and filled
him up, until he was about ready to burst.
Don’t let that big grin on his face fool you, because our friend SpongeBob has just
become, a SpongeBomb.
I tied him down to make sure he wouldn’t float away, then lit a fuse behind his back
and got really really, really, far away.
When our little friend finally went off, the shockwave was so powerful, that it actually
shook the windows on the house.
Well now you know what happens when electrolyzed water is trapped inside a balloon, and set
off with a fuse. And while I’m not suggesting this is something you should try, if you’re
going to do it anyway, make sure you use extreme caution, and just be prepared for the police to show up.
Well that’s it for now. If you like this video, perhaps you’ll like some of my others.
Check them out at www.thekingofrandom.com