Balloon Lung Experiment

This isnt the iron lung, or even a human lung, but did you know that every time you take a
breath you have physics to thank for keeping you alive. Thats right! Physics is responsible for
filling your lungs with air. Learn how your lungs work and make a model that is bound to amaze
your
friends
and
leave
thembreathless.

What you Need

2 balloons

a clear plastic water bottle

scissors

thumbtack or nail

What to Do

1. Take one of the balloons and cut off the bottom part, leaving you with only the top
part that may resemble a very small swim cap.

2. Using the thumbtack or nail, poke a hole in the bottom. The hole doesnt need to be
too large, about 2 -3 mm.

3. Cover the bottom of the water bottle and the hole that you just poked with the balloon
you cut in step 1.

4. Take the other balloon and put it inside the bottle. Then fold the bottom of the balloon
around the rim of the bottle so the balloon hangs from the top.

5. Pull on the bottom balloon membrane and watch what happens to the balloon inside
the bottle.

6. Let go of the balloon membrane and observe what happens to the balloon inside the
bottle.
You should see the balloon inflate as you pull out on the membrane and deflate as you let go of
the membrane. What causes this? Is there a ghost blowing into the balloon? Nope! Its just
physics!

Whats Going On?

Did you know that right now you have 14.7 pounds pushing against every square inch of your
body! That would be like having every square inch of your body sandwiched between a pair of
newborn twins! Thats right, in our atmosphere there is pressure whichis an effect that occurs
when a force is applied on a surface. So why dont you feel like you are under pressure all the
time? When the inside of you is pushing out as hard as the outside is pushing in, the forces
balance and you feel nothing. But what happens if one side stops pushing as hard? Turns out that
is how we can breath!
Air pressure comes from teeny-tiny gas particles that are floating around, bumping into each
other and bumping into you. The particles will take up whatever space is available to them, until
they run into an object or a wall. Inside the plastic water bottle there are a bunch of gas particles
bouncing off the walls of the bottle and filling up the space. When you pull down on the balloon
membrane, you make the space inside the bottle larger, which gives the particles more room to

move around. If the particles have more room to move around, they wont exert as much
pressure on the walls; they wont bump into things as often. When you increase the
volume (the amount of room) you decrease the pressureinside that space, this law of physics
is called Boyles Law.
As the bottom balloon is pulled down, the volume increases and the pressure decreases. But, the
pressures on the inside and outside of the bottle must balance. The only way to keep the
pressure inside the bottle the same as the pressure outside of the bottle is to decrease the
volume again. The only thing that can move to do that is the balloon on top, so it expands.
This is how are lungs operate. Inside our bodies, at the base of our lungs there is a membrane
called the diaphragm. When you inhale, your diaphragm contracts and flattens out, increasing
the volume and decreasing the pressure in your chest. Because you have more room air gets
sucked in through your mouth and nose and into your lungs, just like it did in the balloon, and
then your lungs fill with air. Your lungs are like the balloon and the diaphragm is like the balloon
membrane at the base of you bottle. When you exhale your diaphragm relaxes which decreases
the volume of your lungs and increases the pressure in your chest. To make sure that your chest
doesnt explode, the air gets forced back out through your mouth and nose.