Alice has been tasked with comparing a series of Qualatex round balloons of different sizes, but the same color, to see how much pressure is required to start them, and subsequently, to burst them by overinflation. She begins with the 5" size, knowing that it holds the least air but may well require the greatest pressure. She has to try a few times to get it started, then quickly blows it to size, and then pushes with all her might to try and pop it. Her cheeks expand through several different shapes, and she turns a slight shade of red, but after a while needs to regroup and try again. Aft...

Alice has been tasked with comparing a series of Qualatex round balloons of different sizes, but the same color, to see how much pressure is required to start them, and subsequently, to burst them by overinflation. She begins with the 5" size, knowing that it holds the least air but may well require the greatest pressure. She has to try a few times to get it started, then quickly blows it to size, and then pushes with all her might to try and pop it. Her cheeks expand through several different shapes, and she turns a slight shade of red, but after a while needs to regroup and try again. After all, she is holding all the pressure in her mouth, since she is not using a check valve. On the second try, she puffs even harder, but again has to fall back to take a breath. The third time, she really lets loose, and is rewarded with quite a kinetic pop, which immediately turns the balloon to shreds. Elated of her first victory in a battle with a piece of rubber, she reviews the data, and then begins setting up for the next balloon.