Skewer Through Balloon

How can you pierce a balloon and not make it pop?!?

Balloons are made of a thin sheet of a rubber called latex, a polymer made
of long chain-like molecules, or strands, that are all tangled together.

There are also bonds between the strands, call cross-links. This tangled, cross-linked
network of molecules can be stretched, but when you let go, it returns to its original shape.

This happens when the skewer is twisted through the side of the balloon.

Make sure to poke through where the latex molecules are under
the least amount of pressure.  Near the tied part of the balloon.

When a very sharp skewer is slowly pushed, with twisting, into the balloon,
the polymer chains are pushed aside, but remain bonded, so the balloon does not break.

The Vaseline helps to seal the holes.