Geek Celebrates Hanukkah With Science: Day One

Every year, my family celebrates the eight days of Hanukkah with eight fun experiments. We’re at it again this year, starting with a balloon rocket experiment. It’s an easy, playful way to demonstrate Newton’s third law of motion. It’s also a good bridge to talking about air pressure, thrust, velocity, and a gateway to a host of other interesting physics experiments.

The instructions for this experiment are simple (materials are in bold):

  • Inflate a balloon and tape a drinking straw to it.
  • Let the balloon deflate.
  • Tape a thin string to one chair and feed the free end of the string through the straw.
  • Tape the free end of the string to another chair and pull the string taught.
  • Re-inflate the balloon, and pinch the end, but don’t tie it.
  • Release!
  • Repeat!

Watch our demonstration in the video above to see how it’s done!

Liked it? Take a second to support GeekMom and GeekDad on Patreon!

Share
Published by

Recent Posts

Perfect for Spring, Marimekko Brings Bold Color and Design to Stationery

Bring springtime and color into your home with Marimekko stationery items.

March 9, 2026

The Winter Goddess by Megan Barnard

The fight between winter and the onset of spring is something we know well in…

February 18, 2026

If you are looking for a way to escape this never ending January, a trip…

January 30, 2026

‘Mouse Guard: Dawn of the Black Axe’: Interviewing David Petersen on the Black Axe’s Origin Story

Out today is the newest Mouse Guard book, 'Mouse Guard: Dawn of the Black Axe'—and…

January 20, 2026

The New Rubik’s x Tetris Cube Is a Fun Mashup of ’80s Toys

If you like some extra squares in your cubes, check out the new Rubik's x…

December 22, 2025

Skye Sweetnam, Sumo Cyco, and the Power of Community

Like many others, I jumped directly into my Apple Music Replay this year filled with…

December 17, 2025