Materials Required:
l Round balloon
l Wide-tip felt marker
Procedure:
- Inflate a round balloon partially full with air. Pinch the neck closed with your thumb and forefinger, but do not tie it closed.
- With a wide-tip felt marker, make several specks all over the surface of the rubber. Let them dry.
- Now blow more air into the balloon, take it away from your mouth, and note the position of the specks. Continue inflating and observing the balloon. The specks grow farther and farther apart. Do you know what this model represents?
This Is What Happens:
The balloon is really a model of space, and each of the spots is a galaxy of stars. Our Sun and the planet Earth are part of the Milky Way galaxy. Scientists believe that the universe is expanding in just the same way as you saw on the balloon. The galaxies are drifting apart, leaving greater distances between them.
