flying tea bag experiment procedure

How to make a tea bag fly

Flying tea bags at home

Safe­ty pre­cau­tions

Ob­serve safe­ty rules when work­ing with fire. Con­duct the ex­per­i­ment away from flammable ob­jects and liq­uids.

Step-by-step in­struc­tions

Cut the tea bag with scis­sors, pour the con­tents into a clean bowl, and un­fold the bag.

Don’t throw the tea out – you can still brew it! Po­si­tion the emp­ty tea bag ver­ti­cal­ly and set it on fire. Watch as it burns and floats away.

Process de­scrip­tion

The burn­ing tea bag heats the air around it, which be­comes less dense. This leads to a cur­rent of warm air that pulls the tea bag up and away.

Dozens of experiments you can do at home

One of the most exciting and ambitious home-chemistry educational projects The Royal Society of Chemistry