Introduction to Balloons
The word ‘Balloons’ conjures up ideas in your mind of simple balloons you blow up for children’s parties, or balloons that fly off on their own, or the special balloons for key events like the ones produced for the wedding of Charles and Diana? There are so many different types of balloons on the market that you can get almost anything for any event you want.
When you think about it, a balloon is a very strange item. It is something that stretches when filled with air or some other type of gas, such as Helium or hydrogen and is very fragile so that it can easily burst. The very early balloons would have been made with non-elastic material but modern dayballoons have great elasticity because they are made of Latex and can be pumped up to create much larger sizes than earlier ones.
History of Balloons
The initial known balloons were very primitive in that they were made out of the bowels of animals. The Aztec Indians in Central and Southern America carefully cleaned out the cat gut, turned it inside out and stitched it with special vegetable thread that stuck to itself when dried in the sun creating an almost airtight seal. The balloons were shaped into model animals and then filled with air to be burnt on the top of the Aztec pyramid as an offering to the sun god. This is without doubt the earliest use of balloon modelling.
The first public demonstration of a balloon was at the Portuguese Court in Lisbon in seventeen hundred and nine by a Portuguese priest, Bartolomeu de Gusmao, and was most likely to be made from an animal bladder that stretched when filled with air. The modern rubber balloon was invented in 1824 by Michael Faraday the renowned English chemist and physicist who invented, amongst other many other things, the Faraday cage and he also made huge contributions to the fields electromagnetism and electrochemistry. The balloons Faraday used were filled with hydrogen for his science experiments with Hydrogen, but the more familiar Latex balloon did not appear until 1847. Although the Latex balloon was manufactured in London in the mid eighteen hundreds and early rubber balloons were sold in America in parks and circuses for a penny each; the mass production of them did not occur until 100 years later in nineteen thirty one.
The world of balloons became more advanced as they developed in line with technology. Now balloons are made from rubber Latex, polychloroprene or nylon and may be filled with air, Helium, hydrogen or water. Filling the balloon with air can be done with the mouth, a manual hand pump, electric inflator, foot pump or with compressed gas. Balloons are used for various differing purposes, and decorated in numerous ways to suit the circumstance.
Some balloons are purely for decorative reasons, others are ideal for specialist functions because of their low density and relatively low cost. The balloon’s properties have led to them being used in a wide range of other applications in the areas of meteorology, military defence, medical treatment, and transportation. There are many different types of balloons which can be categorised under different headings.
Different Types of Balloons
Balloons for Parties
The most familiar types of balloons are the ones we are used to seeing at parties, generally a child’s party. These are frequently bought in small packets and blown up by volunteers or with a pump to create a festive scene for children’s parties and other kinds of celebratory events. These days you often see a cluster of balloons at the entrance to a house or hall to indicate where the party is being held, it has almost become a universal indicator of a party in progress! The balloons come in varying sizes and colours and can have printing on them which expands as the balloon is blown up. Party balloons are generally made of natural Latex tapped from rubber trees. The rubber’s elasticity makes the dimensions variable. Balloons filled with air usually hold their size and shape much longer than those filled with Helium.This is because Helium particles are so small they can escape between the Latex molecules, apparently!
There is a great range of colours for balloons and many different sizes due to the flexibility of the material from which they are made. Children especially have hours of fun kicking balloons after the party, keep-it-up being one of my favourite ways to entertain my children with a balloon.
Mylar(Foil) Balloons
The foil balloon or Mylar balloons first appeared during the late 1970s. They are much more costly than Latex balloons and are made of thin non-stretch metalized plastic film or Mylar. The first time I remember them being used a major event was when they made an appearance at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer and they caused quite a stir. These balloons have a nice glossy reflective texture and can be supplied with colour pictures, branding and patterns to customise them. The most crucial characteristic of metalized nylon for balloons is its ability to prevent the Helium gas from escaping for several weeks because it is less permeable. Foil balloons also have the advantage of being light weight, longer-lasting with greater buoyancy. They are ideal for special celebrations, in-store displays, parties and for gifts. At my mother’s ninetieth birthday celebration in April my son’s financee brought along a foil balloon with 90 printed on it to add to the party atmosphere.Mylar balloons or foil balloons can also be manufactured into star shapes and can be printed with patterns to advertise a brand.
Animal-Shaped Balloons
Animal shaped balloons are ade from metalized nylon which can easily be cut into pieces so that when sewn together they make the three dimensional shapes of animals. Screen printing the appropriate design on the model, makes the chosen animal come realistically alive. Once inflated, these exclusive pieces make a very bright decorative impact for that special event. Balloons shaped like animals may be used as gifts or as a talking point at your special event.
Balloon Rockets
Inflating a balloon and letting it go without tying it is as game most kids play at some time or another (and adults too)! The rude noise it makes generally has everyone falling about laughing as it zooms about the building in a random manner. This demonstration is teaching the children basically how a rocket works and they are called balloon rockets. As a kid I can remember being fascinated as I learned how they worked.
When the top of the balloon is released, the elasticity of the balloon contracts so that the higher pressure of air inside is forced out causing the balloon to be propelled forward. This is in essence how a rocket works. The balloon can also be filled with different gases other than air, providing the same effect. Balloon rockets are a widely used a teaching device to demonstrate the principles in laws of nature of the operation of a rocket. The balloon rocket is also often used to demonstrate Newton’s third law in physics. Kids can have hours of fun playing with balloons as a balloon rocket. The randomness of where they will go adds fun to the fun.
Balloons and Water
The water balloons are obviously filled with water and are intended for youngsters to fling at each other as a game or practical joke with the aim of getting each other soaked. They are generally smaller than normal balloons and made from thiner rubber so that they can be easily broken.
Helium Balloons
The reason Helium balloons float is because they are filled with Helium gas which is lighter than air. So for an event where balloons are set off into the atmosphere, they will all be Helium filled balloons. If the Helium balloons are rubber balloons they generally only retain their buoyancy for a few days. This is because the Latex has tiny holes that are larger than the enclosed Helium atoms so the Helium gradually leaks out. To increase the life span of a Helium balloon the inside of the balloons can be coated with a special polymer solution which lessens the leakage of the Helium for a week or more. If you require a large amount of balloons then look for suppliers who provide wholesale balloons ensuring the quantities you require are achieved.
Balloon Sculpting
Balloon Sculptures are made from 100’s of balloons to create a solid structure such as a balloon arch, wall or statute. Other shapes are more difficult, but on occasion more ambitious sculptures have been attempted so they are possible. These works of art are usually made and designed by professional balloon modellers as it is a very skilled job. Balloon sculptures are really quite restricted because of the shape of the balloons but with clever colour choice simple arches or walls can make an impressive feature at your gathering. The balloons need to be precision filled with exactly the same amount of gas and to do this professional balloon sculptors use precision pumps to deliver the exact amount of Helium into the balloon. For non-floating balloons air inflators are used. Professional quality balloons differ from most retail packet balloons as they are bigger in size, stronger and made from 100% biodegradable Latex. Sometimes Helium balloons are used as table decorations for weddings which may have three or five balloons with an arrangement of flowers. The decoration will generally include curled ribbon tied to a weight to stop the balloons from floating away.
Modelling and Art with Balloons
Balloon modelling is a popular entertainment for children and adults alike and should be confused with balloon sculptures discussed previously. The Latex employed by balloon modellers is made of extra-stretchy rubber so that it can be twisted and shaped and tied without popping when making the balloon model. A Balloon modelling artist pulls and twists the inflated tubular balloons into shapes resembling animals, people or hats. When you watch a balloon modeller at work you half expect that the balloons will pop when they are twisting and tying their handy work. These tiny modelling balloons are extremely hard to inflate and usually need a pump to get them started, until you have developed the lungs for it.
Mass Balloon Drops
Most people have seen a party or dance where at the end of the night lots of balloons fall from the roof to create excitement and fun amongst the audience. This is a balloon drop and is often performed at parties such as New Year’s Eve celebrations or at political rallies and conventions. It is a relatively low cost way of making a festive atmosphere at the party climax, so everyone goes away feeling they have had a really great evening. By printing messages or logos on the balloons they can also be an advertising item at the event.
It is easy enough to create your own balloon drop for your special event as long as you have a room with enough height. To begin with you will need to set up a large plastic bag or net overhead, which is suspended at the required height. Get your other organisers to help with inflating balloons as it can take a long time to do the number needed. Then load the inflated balloons into the net and make sure the opening is central so that the balloons will fall onto the target area below when they are released. You will also need to create a mechanism for releasing the balloons.
That special event can be made more vivid by setting up balloons arches especially when used to create a grand entrance.
Releasing Balloons on Mass
Due to concerns about the effect on the environment of a large number of balloons being released, the NABAS - The Balloon Association have produced a code of conduct that is available on their website at www.nabas.co.uk
If you are preparing a balloon release of more than 5,000 balloons, it is a requirement that you apply in writing for permission to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) at least 28 days in advance. The CAA also like to be informed of balloon releases of less than 5,000. An application form can be obtained by calling either the NABAS office on 01989 762 204 or the Airspace Utilisation Section of the CAA on 020 7453 6599
Environmental Concerns and Balloon Safety
Latex is a natural product obtained from rubber trees that are cultivated in certain areas of the tropics, so balloons are actually organic being manufactured from natural rubber Latex (NRL). These trees are not cut down to extract the NRL. The NRL is harvested by tapping mature plants and is an essential sustainable crop providing employment for many agricultural workers in some of the poorest areas of the world.
The planting and maintenance of rubber tree plantations contributes towards the prevention of tropical rainforest deforestation. Without the cultivation and the consumption of Latex products the plantations might easily become just another target of the clearance of land for construction. One of the great by-products of NRL cultivation is the noticeable contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere that is produced by industrialised nations and is a major source of global warming. The tropical regions in which rubber trees grow are often in some of the poorest parts of the world, so an industry from such a sustainable source is a vital income for the population.
Conclusion
The toy balloon has been a source of pleasure and excitement for many years at celebratory events such as parties, product launches and conferences throughout the world. They have been an educational tool as well as providing hours of fun and interest for children and adults alike. Non toy balloons are used for experiments in science, as an aid for heart repair in medicine and even as a form of travel as in the hydrogen air ship idea. Balloons are invaluable in helping us to learn about our world and some of the properties of physics.
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