You need:

a. Orange – 1
b. Balloon – 1

What next?

Let’s do the Orange Peel Balloon Pop Experiment ourselves and see what happens.

Step 1: Blow up the balloon to full and tie its mouth that the air will not escape.

Step 2: Peel an orange

Step 3: Squeeze some of the orange peel juices on to the blown up balloon. Wait a second and
the balloon goes pop!

Logic:

Orange peel has limonene in it, a chemical in the juice of orange peel. Limonene is the reason for
the balloon to pop. Not just the balloon blast, it is also responsible for the refreshing fragrance
that an orange produces as we peel one.

You may think’ why limonene’. Yes, limonene is a hydrocarbon. Hydrocarbons are nonpolar
molecules and so limonene. How’s it going to cause a blast? Balloons are made of rubber and
interestingly rubber is also a hydrocarbon and nonpolar too. Chemists say that nonpolar
substances dissolve fine in another nonpolar substance.

When we spray limonene from the peel of an orange on the balloon, it causes the rubber to
dissolve in limonene juice. Thus the surface of balloon thins down and the air pressure within the
balloon pops out.