So we’re trying something a bit different this week: SCIENCE!

Hypothesis

If you remember when mark came in a few months ago to show us how to make a Valentine’s Day character and he used a strip of stretchy balloon tape to create a strong anchor point on-top of a bubble balloon. We get asked all the time how sticky the tape actually is and we say, very! We believe that the stretchy tape is one of the stickiest tapes out there and decided to test this out once and for all. To help us reach our conclusion, we devised a little experiment!

Apparatus

Method

We are going to test 3 tapes to destruction; a regular role of cellotape, gaffer tape and of course the stretchy tape. We have attached an 18 inch foil balloon to the ceiling via Super-ring magnets and we will use a strip of each of these tapes to stick fishing line to the balloon attached to a bucket. We are then going to fill the bucket with weights until the tape gives way and the bucket falls, we can then tell which tape can hold the most weight and therefore is the stickiest. The weights we are using are the bubble weights which are 35g each and offcuts of steel that we use as heavy weights. These weigh 460g each and are the equivalent to 13 of the bubble weights.

Results

So first up is the ever-popular cellotape. After 6 of the bubble weights the tape starts to pull away from the balloon and after 10 the tape looks like it’s about to detach. It still is holding in there though so Greg adds another, this proves too much and the weights fall. So that was 11 of the bubble weights which is a total of 385g.

Next is the almighty gaffer tape. This is very very sticky stuff and has a multitude of uses so we start by adding all 13 of the bubble weights to the bucket (a total of 455g) and it holds them no problem. After 2 heavy and 8 bubble weights the fishing line on the bucket starts to tear through the gaffer tape and after a few seconds the tape comes loose. That’s 12 of the bubble weights and two of the heavy weights making a total of 1340g.

Now onto the star of the show, the Stretchy tape! We’re quite confident with this one so we start with two of the big weights. The tape starts to stretch as soon as the weight is added but doesn’t come off. We add a third and a fourth heavy weight and all the bubble weight. The tape is now stretching pretty severely but stays on the balloon. Greg adds a 5^th heavy weight, that’s nearly 2.5 kilos, and another 4 bubble weights before the tape gives way. That’s 5 heavy weights and 4 bubble weights making a total of 2440g

I think that’s fairly conclusive! The stretchy tape can hold almost double the weight of the gaffer tape most weight by far. The strength of the tape lies in its ability to stretch instead of pulling away from the surface of the balloon, this prevents the bond between the two surfaces from weakening so the tape stays firmly on. Just to note this experiment was for demonstration purposes only, I don’t think the tape would hold that amount of weight all day and all night but it does show it can take a pounding!

That’s it for this week see you next time.

Rob

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