CHF Chemistry WebQuest #4 The Chemistry Blimp < Back | Home | Teacher's Guide | Next >

Introduction Your Task The Process and Resources Evaluation

Introduction

Blimps, balloons, and zeppelins all fly because they are lighter than air, so they float in the atmosphere rather than sinking in it. Airships are made of lightweight materials and historically have been filled with either one of the two least dense elements there are: hydrogen or helium.

In this WebQuest we are going to look at some of the chemistry behind lighter-than-air flight. The history of airships involves some great chemistry, but it also includes some really bad chemical mistakes, which led to tragic results. This WebQuest now takes you on a lighter-than-air flight through the chemistry behind the successes and failures of airships.

Your Task

Your mission is to find answers for the questions below and to prepare explanations as indicated. When you have found your answers, you are to prepare them for a report to be handed in to your teacher.

The Process and Resources

In your quest, you are to complete the assignments and find answers to the questions below. Some you should be able to answer using only your class textbook. In other cases, links have been provided to websites where you can begin your search.

1. The German zeppelin Hindenburg was filled with hydrogen gas. Not surprisingly, the airship was destroyed in a violent fire near Lakehurst, New Jersey, in 1937.
   1. Write a balanced chemical reaction for the combustion of hydrogen. (4 points)

   2. Is this reaction exothermic or endothermic? (4 points)

2. Modern airships are filled with helium. Unlike hydrogen, helium doesn't burn. Use your knowledge of valence electron configurations to explain why helium is safer than hydrogen for use in airships. (8 points)
   Periodic Table: The Noble Gases—from Chemical Elements.com.

   Helium —from Los Alamos National Laboratory.

3. Though more dangerous, a given volume of hydrogen gas will lift more weight than an equal volume of helium. This is because hydrogen is less dense than helium. Use Avogadro's hypothesis to explain why hydrogen is less dense than helium. (8 points)
   Amadeo Avogadro—biographical sketch, part of Chemical Achievers from the Chemical Heritage Foundation.

4. Balloons are usually filled with simple hot air instead of helium. Use the ideal gas law to explain why a hot air balloon floats. (8 points)
   Balloon Race Around the World—a NOVA Online Adventure from WGBH Boston and PBS.org.

5. French chemist Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac is most famous for describing the law of combining volumes, also known as Gay-Lussac's law. But he also did research using hot air balloons.
   1. How did Gay-Lussac use balloons to study chemistry in the early 1800s? (4 points)

   2. What did he learn from the investigations he carried out using a hot air balloon? (4 points)
   Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac—biographical sketch, part of Chemical Achievers from the Chemical Heritage Foundation.

6. The Hindenburg was filled with flammable hydrogen, but recent research suggests that hydrogen wasn't the only dangerous material involved in its tragic demise.
   1. How did a paint made from powdered aluminum contribute to the disaster? (8 points)

   2. How is powdered aluminum used on the Space Shuttle? (8 points)

   3. Write the chemical equation for the reaction aluminum underwent in the disaster. (8 points)

   4. Is the reaction exothermic or endothermic? (4 points)

   5. Use the octet rule to explain why powdered aluminum can behave as it is thought to have done in the Hindenburg tragedy. (8 points)

   6. Do you think an aluminum can would behave in the same manner as powdered aluminum? Why or why not? (8 points)

   7. Describe the experiments carried out by Addison Bain. (8 points)

   8. Explain how his results and other evidence led to the conclusion that the skin of the Hindenburg was a major cause of the fire that destroyed the airship. (8 points)
   Afterglow of a Myth: Why and How the "Hindenburg" Burnt—by Addison Bain and Ulrich Schmidtchen, from the German Hydrogen Association.

   The Hindenburg—part of Secrets of the Dead, from Thirteen/WNET New York and PBS.org.

   Rocket Propellants—part of Rocket and Space Technology by Robert A. Braeunig.

   Solid Rocket Boosters—from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

Evaluation

You will be graded on how effectively you carry out the assignments in this WebQuest. The point values are listed next to each assignment.

This CHF Chemistry WebQuest was created by Mark Michalovic.