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| The Design! |
Design
The design and materials used for our second hot air balloon didn't differ much from our first. We chose to use the same garbage bag as we did in the previous hot air balloon, deciding that a normal grocery bag would be too small. However, rather than using straws, we used wire to connect our candles to the garbage bag. We also chose to use 10 small birthday candles, attaching them to the wires by using tape and small pieces of straw. We had hope that by using a few more candles than we did in the previous experiment, we would be able to produce enough heat to fill up the large bag, allowing it to float.
Results
Unfortunately our bag was still too large to be able to float. As for improvements, we could use a smaller garbage bag and perhaps a different design that would hold the candles in place better.
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| The moon! |
Having seen the moon on so many occasions before, I'd never really regarded it's beauty or significance until seeing it up close. Sure I'd seen clear images of the moon through Google images and various other websites, but it was an entirely different experience being able to see it in person. I was also able to see Neptune, though it appeared as just a tiny speck through the telescope. One of the astronomers also showed a group of us two stars named Alberio, which, he explained, only has one name since we weren't aware that it was actually two stars at the time. We were also shown Saturn, as well as a blurry view of a globular cluster of stars.
One astronomer was nice enough to give us his tumblr url so we could follow him and continue to learn about the night sky. Here's his url: http://astrogeoguy.tumblr.com/.
Having the telescopes and astronomers come show and teach us about constellations and planets was a real treat. It was both fun and educational, two things that rarely combine. If given the opportunity, I would jump at the chance to be able to do this again.
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| The Design |
Design
Initially, upon first hearing of the hot air balloon experiment, my group and I had predicted that it would be much easier in comparison to the egg lander. However, we quickly learned that this wasn't the case. Our design was quite simple, resulting in a total of 8 candles, 4 of which formed a small square and another 4 that formed another larger square, surrounding the smaller one. A full length straw extended from each corner of the larger square and were attached to the garbage bag.
Results
After having already witnessed a couple of failures with groups' designs that were similar to ours, my group had lost what little hope we had. Once it came time for us to test our balloon, we lit our candles and prayed for a miracle. Unfortunately, our balloon failed to work due to the weight and size of the garbage bag. Well, back to the drawing boards.
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