Frostbite Theater

Announcer: Frostbite Theater presents... Cold Cuts! No baloney!

Joanna and Steve: Just science!

Joanna: Hi! I'm Joanna!

Steve: And I'm Steve!

Joanna: Here's a question for you...

Two balloons are inflated by about the same amount.

Steve: One balloon contains only air.

Joanna: The other balloon contains a little bit of water in addition to the air.

Steve: Each balloon is placed above a candle.

Joanna: The candles are lit and the protective aluminum shields are removed.

Steve: Which balloon pops first?

Joanna: The balloon with water?

Steve: The balloon with just air?

Joanna: Do both of the balloons pop at the same time?

Steve: Or, do the balloons not pop?

Joanna: Pause the video now if you'd like to think it over before we show you what happens.

Steve: One interesting thing about water is that it has a high specific heat. This means it takes a relatively large amount of energy to change the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celcius.

Joanna: The water in the balloon absorbed the heat from the candle without heating up very quickly, which protected the balloon and kept it from popping... for a time.

Thanks for watching. I hope you'll join us again soon for another question!