Toy balloon - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A toy balloon is an inflatable

Inflatable

An inflatable is an object that can be inflated with a gas, usually with air, but hydrogen, helium and nitrogen are also used. One of several advantages of an inflatable is that it can be stored in a small space when not inflated, since inflatables depend on the presence of a gas to maintain their...

object which is often made of plastic

Plastic

A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...

or natural, biodegradable rubber

Rubber

Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...

History

Prior to the invention of rubber balloons by Michael Faraday in 1824, balloons were made from pig bladder

Pig bladder

Pig bladder is the bladder of a domestic pig, similar to the human urinary bladder. Today, this hollow organ has various applications in medicine, and in traditional cuisines and customs...

s and animal intestines.

Rubber balloons

Natural rubber, also known as latex

Latex

Latex is the stable dispersion of polymer microparticles in an aqueous medium. Latexes may be natural or synthetic.Latex as found in nature is a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants . It is a complex emulsion consisting of proteins, alkaloids, starches, sugars, oils, tannins, resins,...

, is a highly flexible and elastic substance which is extracted from certain plant

Plant

Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

s. Latex balloon

Balloon

A balloon is an inflatable flexible bag filled with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. Modern balloons can be made from materials such as rubber, latex, polychloroprene, or a nylon fabric, while some early balloons were made of dried animal bladders, such as the pig...

s contain small amounts of nitrosamine

Nitrosamine

Nitrosamines are chemical compounds of the chemical structure R1N-N=O, some of which are carcinogenic.-Usages:Nitrosamines are used in manufacture of some cosmetics, pesticides, and in most rubber products. -Occurrences:...

s, but the amount which they release is non-hazardous. Nitrosamine is used as a solvent

Solvent

A solvent is a liquid, solid, or gas that dissolves another solid, liquid, or gaseous solute, resulting in a solution that is soluble in a certain volume of solvent at a specified temperature...

when processing latex. There are methods of reducing the amount of Nitrosamine in the finished product, but these methods are expensive. Most professionally used latex balloon brands, produce a 100% biodegradable balloon that takes less time than an oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

leaf to degrade.

Foil balloons

Inflatable foil

Foil (chemistry)

A foil is a very thin sheet of metal, usually made by hammering or rolling a piece of metal. Foils are most easily made with malleable metals, such as aluminium, copper, tin, and gold. Foils usually bend under their own weight and can be torn easily. The more malleable a metal, the thinner foil can...

balloons are made from plastics, such as aluminized PET film

PET film (biaxially oriented)

BoPET is a polyester film made from stretched polyethylene terephthalate and is used for its high tensile strength, chemical and dimensional stability, transparency, reflectivity, gas and aroma barrier properties and electrical insulation.A variety of companies manufacture boPET and other...

. Foil balloons are not elastic like rubber balloons, so that detailed and colorful pictures printed on their surfaces are not distorted when the balloon is inflated. Foil balloons are thus named because they sometimes have a metallic coating to make them shiny, however there have been concerns about metallic balloons causing short circuit

Short circuit

A short circuit in an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path, often where essentially no electrical impedance is encountered....

s when caught in overhead power lines

Electric power transmission

Electric-power transmission is the bulk transfer of electrical energy, from generating power plants to Electrical substations located near demand centers...

. Because metallic balloons can cause power outage

Power outage

A power outage is a short- or long-term loss of the electric power to an area.There are many causes of power failures in an electricity network...

s , it is recommended that the metallic balloons not only be tied by a string or ribbon with no metal in it, but also securely tied down by a weight to prevent the balloon from floating away. When no longer required, it is recommended to cut the balloon to release the helium

Helium

Helium is the chemical element with atomic number 2 and an atomic weight of 4.002602, which is represented by the symbol He. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table...

and dispose of in a garbage container.

Filling

Every toy balloon has an opening through which gases are blown into it. Balloons are usually filled by using one's breath, a pump

Pump

A pump is a device used to move fluids, such as liquids, gases or slurries.A pump displaces a volume by physical or mechanical action. Pumps fall into three major groups: direct lift, displacement, and gravity pumps...

, or a pressurized gas tank. The opening can then be tied off or clamped. Foil balloons are typically self-sealing. By filling a balloon with a gas lighter than air

Lighter than air

Lighter than air refers to gases that are buoyant in air because they have densities lower than that of air .Some of these gases are used as lifting gases in lighter-than-air aircraft, which include free balloons, moored balloons, and airships, to make the whole craft, on average, lighter than air...

, such as helium

Helium

, the balloon can be made to float

Buoyancy

In physics, buoyancy is a force exerted by a fluid that opposes an object's weight. In a column of fluid, pressure increases with depth as a result of the weight of the overlying fluid. Thus a column of fluid, or an object submerged in the fluid, experiences greater pressure at the bottom of the...

. Helium is the preferred gas for floating balloons, because it is inert

Inert

-Chemistry:In chemistry, the term inert is used to describe a substance that is not chemically reactive.The noble gases were previously known as inert gases because of their perceived lack of participation in any chemical reactions...

and will not catch fire (like hydrogen

Hydrogen

Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...

) or cause toxic

Toxicity

Toxicity is the degree to which a substance can damage a living or non-living organisms. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a substructure of the organism, such as a cell or an organ , such as the liver...

effects when inhaled

Inhalation

Inhalation is the movement of air from the external environment, through the air ways, and into the alveoli....

. Small, light objects (postcards, in balloon mail

Balloon mail

Balloon mail refers to the transport of mail carrying the name of the sender by means of an unguided hydrogen or helium filled balloon. Since the balloon is not controllable, the delivery of a balloon mail is left to good fortune; often the balloon and postcard are lost...

for example) are sometimes placed in balloons along with helium and released into the air and, when the balloon eventually falls, the object inside might be found by another person. Rubber balloons can also be filled with liquid

Liquid

Liquid is one of the three classical states of matter . Like a gas, a liquid is able to flow and take the shape of a container. Some liquids resist compression, while others can be compressed. Unlike a gas, a liquid does not disperse to fill every space of a container, and maintains a fairly...

s (usually water

Water

Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

) and can burst when they impact a solid object. Liquid-filled balloons are commonly referred to as water balloon

Water balloon

A water balloon or water bomb is a latex rubber balloon filled with water. They are commonly used in water balloon fights and as a practical joke device.-History:...

s or water bombs and used in playful fights, and sometimes vandalism

Vandalism

Vandalism is the behaviour attributed originally to the Vandals, by the Romans, in respect of culture: ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable...

Balloon shapes

Most toy balloons are a simple oval

Oval

An oval is any curve resembling an egg or an ellipse, such as a Cassini oval. The term does not have a precise mathematical definition except in one area oval , but it may also refer to:* A sporting arena of oval shape** a cricket field...

-like shape. But balloon suppliers also offers other shapes for toy balloons. Some examples of other shapes are: "zeppelins" or "airships," where balloons are usually longer than wide; "espirals" or "rattlesnakes," similar to zeppelins, but much longer (not to be confused with balloons for twisting); "hearts," balloons with the shape of a heart; "dolls," two round shapes joined that represent a head and a body; "mouseheads," composed of three round parts, one for the head and two for the ears; "bunnyheads," similar to mouseheads but with long ears; "bunny balloons," which resemble a stuffed toy bunny, having a big long shape for the body, a smaller shape for the head, and two long shapes for the ears; "elephants," with two shapes for the body and the head, and a very long shape for the trunk; and "ducks," with a big shape for the body, a smaller round shape for the head and smaller shape for the beak. There are many other possible shapes, depending on the manufacturers.

Balloon modeling

There are balloons that are longer and more cylindrical. These long balloons are often twisted and bent into simple, or intricate shapes which will hold their form when released. Balloon artists are people who quickly twist balloons into familiar or abstract shapes using the techniques of balloon modelling

Balloon modelling

Balloon modelling or balloon twisting is the shaping of special modelling balloons into almost any given shape, often a balloon animal. People who create balloon animals and other twisted balloon sculptures are called Twisters, Balloon Benders and Balloon Artists...

, usually for profit.

Uses

Toy balloons are used as decorations and/or advertising space. Balloons are usually purchased in deflated form, however some party stores and vendors at special events will fill their balloons before selling them, this is called "balloon stuffing" where the balloons are filled with objects such as smaller balloons, teddy bears, etc.

While toy balloons are primarily a toy, they are also sometimes used for demonstrations and experiments in classrooms.