title: Acoustical characterization of exploding hydrogen-oxygen balloons.
abstract: Exploding hydrogen-oxygen balloons are popular chemistry demonstrations. Although initial research experimentally quantified potential hearing risk via analysis of peak levels [K. L. Gee et al., J. Chem. Educ. 87, 1039-1044 (2010)], further waveform and spectral analyses have been conducted to more fully characterize these impulsive noise sources. While hydrogen-only balloons produce inconsistent reactions and relatively low, variable levels, stoichiometrically mixed hydrogen-oxygen balloons produce consistent high-amplitude noise waveforms. Preliminary consideration is also given to the potential use of these exploding balloons in architectural acoustics applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Brigham Young University, N283 ESC, Provo, Utah 84602, USA. julia.vernon@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Julia A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Vernon
authors.forename: Kent L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Gee
authors.forename: Jeffrey H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Macedone