Dr. Dave Science

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Hi Darshan,

Thanks for the question!

To explain how hot air balloons work, we need to think about some everyday things.

Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Have you noticed that your home is warmer upstairs than it is downstairs?
2. Have you ever noticed that the hot air from the smoke stacks always goes up into the sky?

Why does this happen?

This happens because warm air rises and cold air descends!

If we could capture enough warm air (and figure out a way to keep it warm), we’d have a hot-air balloon!

Here is a hot-air balloon:

Hot air balloon pilots can make the hot air balloon go up and down by changing the temperature of the air inside the balloon!

Use the following illustration as a guide to the parts of a hot air balloon:

To make a hot air balloon go up, burners are used to warm the air inside the “envelope” (the balloon part).

To make the balloon descend, the vents on the top of the envelope are opened to slowly release the warm air.

The direction of flight is controlled by the wind.

For more information on the history of hot air balloons, click this link.

Pretty cool!

Dr. Dave