Genie in a Bottle

While this isn’t actually an air-pressure experiment but more of an activity in density, really, it’s still a great visual demonstration of why Hot Air Balloons rise on cold mornings.

Imagine a glass of hot water and a glass of cold water sitting on a table, side by side. Now imagine you have a way to count the number of water molecules in each glass. Which glass has more water molecules?

The glass of cold water has way more molecules… but why? The cold water is more dense than the hot water. Warmer stuff tends to rise because it’s less dense than colder stuff and that’s why the hot air balloon in experiment 1.10 floated up to the sky.

Clouds form as warm air carrying moisture rises within cooler air. As the warm, wet air rises, it cools and begins to condense, releasing energy that keeps the air warmer than its surroundings. Therefore, it continues to rise. Sometimes, in places like Florida, this process continues long enough for thunderclouds to form. Let’s do an experiment to better visualize this idea.

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Materials: Two identical tall glasses, hot water, cold water, red and blue food dye, and an index card larger enough to cover the opening of the glasses

Fill two identical water glasses to the brim: one with hot water, the other with cold water. Put a few drops of blue dye in the cold water, a few drops of red dye in the hot water. Place the index card over the mouth of the cold water and invert the glass over the glass of hot water. Line up the openings of both glasses, and slowly remove the card.

Troubleshooting: Always invert the cold glass over the hot glass using an index card to hold the cold water in until you’ve aligned both glasses. You can also substitute soda bottles for water glasses and slide a washer between the two bottles to decrease the flow rate between the bottles so the effect lasts longer.

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