Re: Why does a balloon pop when it is placed on one nail.

Hi Kasarah!
Balloons pop when they are put on one nail and do not pop when they are 
placed on a bed of nails. Well, you've obviously noticed this, that's why 
you're asking "why", so here's why. (Did that make any sense?) Nails are 
sharp because they have a point with very little surface area. One nail 
point has a lot less surface area than, say, five or ten nail points like a 
balloon might encounter on a bed of nails. To pop a balloon, a nail has to 
exert a lot of pressure on the balloon. Pressure = force / area (that's an 
equation you should be able to find in any physics book or science 
teacher's brain), so the smaller the area, the more pressure is exerted by 
the same amount of force. On a bed of nails, the force is distributed over 
those five or ten nail points (remember, more surface area), so the 
pressure is less and the balloon doesn't pop as easily.
I hope that helps and that I didn't just confuse the heck out of you. Have 
fun with your project!
Spencer Bagley