Making floaty balloons

[t0p]

On my birthday I'd like to release a whole bunch of balloons filled with lighter-than-air gas.

I know a flammability of hydrogen and the relatively safety of helium. But I've just learned of a way to make hydrogen (caustic soda + aluminium) and I think it's cheaper than buying bottles of helium. So I want to go down the hydrogen route... I can't see a little balloon of hydrogen being too dangerous.

I've read that some party balloons are not suitable for hydrogen - the gas can escape through the balloon material or some such thing. So what kind of balloons are needed? And how big do they need to be, in order to contain enough hydrogen to do the up-up-and-away thing?

I know the caustic soda + aluminium process is potentially dangerous. I am relatively intelligent and am safety conscious, so please don't lecture me on the hazard. Thanks!

[LowSky]

I've created hydrogen in a chemistry lab before, and while it is an easy enough process, we weren't storing it in pressurized containers.

So my quesiton is how are you going to fill the ballons? You are going to need a bit of pressure to inflate them.

Secondly Why not jst buy some ballons from a party supply store, or rent a helium tank. It's pretty cheap.

[t0p]

I've created hydrogen in a chemistry lab before, and while it is an easy enough process, we weren't storing it in pressurized containers.

So my quesiton is how are you going to fill the ballons? You are going to need a bit of pressure to inflate them.


Put caustic soda powder, little balls of aluminium foil and water in a vessel and a chemical reaction produces hydrogen. I have a bung with a hole in it, and tubing with a tap on the end. So, I mix the ingredients, put the bung in place, the hydrogen will go through the tubing and into my balloons.



Secondly Why not jst buy some ballons from a party supply store, or rent a helium tank. It's pretty cheap.

"Cheap" ain't "free". I already own the necessary stuff (except the actual balloons) so my method is very very cheap indeed. I am also cheap, and don't want to pay someone to do this when I can do it myself.

[Grenage]

To be honest, while it would be a hell of a lot easier to rent the gas - it wouldn't be nearly as cool.

I'd imagine that the balloon packets would say that they are suitable for helium, but I don't know why any normal balloon wouldn't be.

[Ric_NYC]

Please, be careful!
http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/8158/hindenburg500px.jpg



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F54rqDh2mWA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V5KXgFLia4&feature=related

:(

[juancarlospaco]

Here everything floats...

[eriktheblu]

You might want to check the laws on this. Such an item might be restricted as an explosive/incendiary device.

If I'm not mistaken, we use a similar reaction with military MRE heaters. These heaters produce barely enough gas to fill a balloon (what can I say, soldiers get bored sometimes). The heat produced by the reaction is sufficient to melt plastic an cause burns. Unless you intend to cool the gas first, you might end up with melted balloons.

Your plan is dangerous in several ways, and potentially unlawful.

[koleoptero]

I've done this with hydrocloric acid and aluminum foil. It ain't fun unless you plan to explode the baloons later. You can barely fill a couple of baloons with a big container of acid and aluminum. Plus it does indeed escape through the material.

[mips]

I see a party ending badly...

[pricetech]

Make sure you video the process. I look forward to seeing you on "World's Dumbest"

Seriously, I hope not.

[Captain Smiley Pants]

Spend some money, save yourself a headache (and possible death)

[forrestcupp]

Put caustic soda powder, little balls of aluminium foil and water in a vessel and a chemical reaction produces hydrogen. I have a bung with a hole in it, and tubing with a tap on the end. So, I mix the ingredients, put the bung in place, the hydrogen will go through the tubing and into my balloons.We did this exact experiment in my Chemistry class years ago. After class, my friend and I secretly did our own experiment with magnesium and sulfuric acid, which is way more reactive than what you're talking about. When we blew up a beaker, we got into some trouble.

I hate to tell you this, but it's not going to generate enough pressure to blow up balloons sufficiently to get them to float. You can try it, but it's not going to work.


I am relatively intelligent and am safety conscious, so please don't lecture me on the hazard. Thanks!I'm not so sure about that. I about blew my hand off in the above referenced story. I was pretty intelligent, but you don't always think about everything. Also, once the balloons are released, it doesn't matter how safety conscious you are; they're out of your control. If you're really safety conscious, then you'll just blow them up in a contained area and not let them float out of your control. (assuming you could get it to work, which you won't)

[Ric_NYC]

http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/2561/partybomb.png

[cgroza]

Yeah, what happens if a balloon touches the candles while you are blowing them?
http://www.guatemalaproject.org/mediac/400_0/media/DIR_49901/Copy$20of$20face$20burns.jpg

[koenn]

I used to do this when I was a kid.
I used a bottle -> makes it easier to fill the balloons

somewhat like this :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2tRQz7kz_Q

hydrochloric acid + something metal, in small pieces, works well - eg small nails
The reaction produces heat, which may break the bottle, so ideally you never mix more than the quantity needed for one balloon, then add fresh ingredients for the next one. You might want to experiment to get the quantities right.

You might also want to dilute the acid, which slows the reaction a bit so the heat doesn't build up to fast, but it also generates tha gas less fast so that's a downside.
When diluting acid, pour acid into water, not the other way around, and in small quantities (so that, in case this causes a reaction or splashes, you're not dealing with a large amount of acid all at once)

Hydrogen is flammable, but it's not highly explosive unless you mix it with air so it's relatively safe.
But be careful anyway.


Disclaimer - you do this at your own risk.

[pwnst*r]

Here everything floats...

lol

[t0p]

After reading all the replies, I have decided to go with the helium tank solution instead. This isn't because of "safety" consideration - I've had several jobs that entailed carrying out potentially hazardous tasks safely, so I think I'm pretty good at evaluating risk. I'm giving up the hydrogen plan simply because it doesn't look like it'll work. After checking out the youtube video that koenn linked to (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2tRQz7kz_Q), I looked at some others and it seems that small quantities of hydrogen won't make small balloons float. I guess I could get a bunch of Zeppelin-sized balloons, but that might end badly.

Anyway, thanks for the advice.