solids, liquids, and gases
Hot-Air Balloons
A balloon festival is a beautiful sight.
Dozens of huge, colorful balloons rise
into the air. People riding in baskets
under the balloons wave to the crowd
below. Then the balloons float away.
These balloons are hot-air balloons.
They use heat to make the air in the
balloon lighter than the air around it.
The air in a balloon is heated with
a burner. It burns a gas called propane.
The burning gas creates a very hot
flame. The flame heats the other gases
in the air inside the balloon.
As the air gets warmer, it expands.
Now the air is less dense, or packed
more loosely. It becomes lighter than
the same volume of air outside the
balloon would be. Because the air
is less dense than the outside air, it
rises. And it takes the balloon with it.
© iStockphoto/Sandra Layne
Balloons float with the wind.
© Learning A–Z All rights reserved.
Despite its huge
© Jupiterimages Corporation
size, the gas planet
Saturn weighs very
little. It is so light
that it could
float in water!
Differences in density cause many
things to rise. It’s what makes an air
bubble rise in water. Water is much
denser than air. So water pushes an
air bubble up to the surface.
Burning propane makes the gases
inside a hot-air balloon lighter
than the gases
surrounding it.
© iStockphoto/Erik van Hannen
Heating the gases
in a hot air balloon
makes the gas expand,
so it is less dense than
the air around it.
o How does heating the air in
a balloon make it change?
o What does air density have
to do with a balloon rising?
o Would you want to fly in a
hot-air balloon? Why or why not?
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