Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Floating Balloon

Amy has two new empty balloons.  She fills one balloon with helium and ties it closed.  When she lets go, the balloon floats up into the sky.  Amy wonders what happens to the mass of the floating balloon compared to the empty balloon.  What do you think?

1. The floating balloon has more mass than the empty balloon.
2. The floating balloon has less mass than the empty balloon.
3.The mass of the empty balloon and the floating balloon is the same.

Describe your thinking.  If someone has already left a comment please read and either agree or disagree.  Try to convince us with evidence.


Prompts are based on the book "Uncovering Student ideas in Science"

42 comments:

  1. I thank that the floating balloon has less mass than whene the balloon was empty.I thank this becouse it has the gass in it witch makes it all most all air so that should make it less mass.

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  2. Floating balloon has more mass than an empty because the mass stays in the balloon and the empty balloon the comes out.

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  3. the balloon is made of thin ruber so it can expand

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  4. I agree with Seth because when you blow air in to the balloon your breath is giving the balloon more mass.

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  5. I agree with you Seth. I think that the floating balloon does have more mass than the empty balloon, because the balloon can hold the helium inside of it.

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  6. i think that the inflated balloon has more mass becase it expands and gets bigger

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  7. Well mass is weight that takes up space. So I agree with Seth because she is giving it weight and it is taking up space.

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  8. I agree with Mary Ann and Seth because when a ballloon isn't inflated, it has less mass because there is no air in it... but when a balloon is floating, that means it must be inflated and the air inside is giving the balloon more mass.

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  9. Yes I agree with seth there is more mass in an inflated balloon than a deflated one. The difference is the gas that was used to inflate the balloon. The gas may not weigh very much, but it does make a difference.

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  10. Does anyone agree with me?

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  11. i agree with seth because a empty balloon dose not really have any mass because it is empty

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  12. Yes iagree with you Warren. There is more mass in a inflated because it is blowen up. Yah gas does not wheigh much but yes it does make a diffrence.

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  13. I also agree that a emptey balloon weights less because it is not really holding and thinh inside of the balloon so it really does not have much mass.

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  14. I think the balloon would weigh more because you are filling it.

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  15. The floating balloon has more mass than the emty balloon because the emty balloon is not filled up.

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  16. I also agree with seth because, the helium could make the ballon have have more mass than the deflated ballon. Does any one agree?

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  17. I agree with Seth because you are filling the balloon up with air that makes it heavier and the wait of the deflated balloon.does any body agree.

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  18. The un-filled balloon weighs more than the air it displaces. Helium weighs less than air. The helium filled balloon weighs less than the air it displaces, so it floats. I think the actual weight of the balloon itself stays the same. When it is filled with heluim it takes up more space and it is lifted by the helium trapped inside it so it seems lighter.

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  20. The un-filled balloon wieghs more than the air it displaces therefore it doesn't float. The helium inside the filled balloon weighs less than the air it displaces therefore it floats.

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  21. I agree with you trace that un-filled balloon weighs more than air becauseair you don't even feel it and a un-filled balloon you feel it a litle bit. So yeah I agree with you Trace. @;- ( Thats a signal for rose)

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  22. I think mass is how much something weighs. The balloon with helium has less mass than the empty balloon. The balloon with helium is lighter than air, causing it to float up. The empty balloon has more mass. Thats why the empty balloon falls down when you let go of it.
    I agree with Colter.

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  23. The deflated balloon has no mass at all because the air comes out but the inflated balloon keeps the mass in side because when you tie the sting to the balloon the mass stays in the balloon.

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  24. I agree with Seth. I think the mass would increase, because you are adding helium, because before you practically had nothing in the balloon.

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  25. I belive that the floting ballon has more mass
    because air interacts with the mass of the ballon.

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  26. I think that the floating ballon has more mass than when it was empty.The more mass it has the lighter it is!!

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  27. The unflated balloon wieghs less because even though air does not weght much it still makes a diffrece in the mass.This is because air still has mass and the mass adds to the wieght of the unflated balloon.

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  28. I think tha a baloon floats because helium ways less than air

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  29. I think that the balloon with helium has less mass than the surronding air,which is why it floats.i think that the balloon that is filled with helium has more mass becaus somone just filled it whit helium.

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  30. I agree with seth because the more you put your air in the balloon the more mass

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  31. I disagree. I think that the floating balloon will have less mass because the more air you put into the balloon the less mass.

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  32. the bollon that is filled up with air is more mass because it has the amount of air and amount of the bollon combinded is more thn just the bollon its self

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  33. Ryan- I agree with you because just like a football when it gets a lot of air in it the mass is a lot biiger than a football without any air in it.

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  34. I think the reason a bollon floats is that its mass is so big that it just rises into the air, then eventuly it will lose all its healium and it will come down to the ground once again.

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  35. I agree with Clare J. because more air you put in the balloon the less mass.

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  36. the mass of the flouting ballonn is less bcause heleum is lighter than the balloon and when you fill it it oveosly will flout up because it is lighter than oxigen .a deflated balloon stays on the ground because it is heveyer than oxigen.kind of like the exsparement we did in third grade with the oils.the hevyer oils went to the bottom and the lighter oils when to the top,so did the beads and the glitter

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  37. I think that the mass of the inflated baloon is more than the deflated balloon.

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  38. i think they are the same.

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  39. I agree with jude because air has no mass.

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  40. I think that the floating baloon has more mass because it takes up more space

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  41. I agree with Mac because if you blow air into the balloon it adds more mass to the balloon so when you weigh it it will weigh more than the deflated balloon.

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  42. Jude I don't agree with you because a floating balloon has more mass than a empty balloon and think deflated balloon has no mass at all because the mass comes in and comes out ,but a inflated balloon keeps the mass in because when you tie the sting to the balloon the mass stays in the balloon.

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