how far & high does a helium ballon travel when a child lets it go?

Answer 1

We did this in high school and teid a stamped post card to it to see the farthest one. Most only went about 250 - 300 miles but this joker named WREN sent pieces of the card back from all over the world kinda cool.

Answer 2

Not quite as far or high as when I full grown man let's it go. What is interesting is that in the early 1950's scientists (Alfred Schroden and Joseph Titus) experimented by giving helium balloons to gorillas which were then released by the gorillas. The gorilla released balloons traveled much higher and much farther than an identical balloon released by a full grown man. Although scientist have been unable to pinpoint the reason for this, the effect does have a name:

The Schroden-Titus Effect.

Answer 3

Well, it depends on a couple of things...

1) Elasticity of the balloon.

2) Buoyancy of the helium versus the atmosphere.

3) Osmosis (particles/atoms crossing a permeable barrier, often due to internal pressure)

4) Weather patterns that day (in terms of how far it goes).

----------

1) As the balloon rises (being lighter than air) it will encounter regions of decreasingly dense atmosphere. The effects of "pressure" (or how much the outside forces on an object press against the inside of an object and vice versa), will be that the balloon will expand as it moves into lower pressure areas. This is because the gas outside the balloon is less dense than the air inside the balloon, and nature generally wants an even density, so the gas inside will want to expand until its density/pressure matches the pressure of the air outside. If the balloon is elastic enough, it will continue to expand for quite a while. If the balloon is inelastic enough, the expansion will cause a tear in the balloon and the contents will be expelled (the balloon pops; end of experiment!).

2) Buoyancy: as common experience tells us, heavier things fall, lighter things rise. But heavier and lighter than what? Well, the medium they're in of course (air is our normal medium). Basically, heavier elements have more mass, thus exert more gravity, and are more affected by gravity, thus will tend to "fall" toward the center of gravity (in our frame of reference that is the center of the earth, approximately). So, we can take for instance rock, water, air and helium. Rock is much heavier than water, generally, so it will sink in water. Water is much heavier than air, so when we pour water out of a cup, it will sink through the air, and land on top of the rock (air remains above the water). Helium is lighter than air (since it only has a couple protons and a couple electrons, whereas other elements/molecules have quite a few more; oxygen, methane, nitrogen, carbon dioxide are much heavier). So, helium will tend to rise. I think only hydrogen is lighter than helium? So, buoyancy basically says that a "thing" will rise or sink until it meets a layer of something lighter or heavier than itself. It will position itself between what is lighter and what is heavier, forming a natural pressure and/or density gradient.

So, what does this mean for a balloon? Well, it means it will probably keep rising until everything heavier is below it, and everything lighter is above it. Hopefully the balloon is elastic enough to allow for this as the balloon expands as it rises into less and less dense materials. (You can under-fill a balloon so that the rubber is less taut to begin with, giving it a little more expansion capability before it bursts). Once it reaches its buoyancy point it will float around at that level until either it pops, or osmosis kicks in and some of the helium starts leaking out slowly through the balloon's rubber molecules.

3) Osmosis is the process of atoms or molecules slowly crossing a physical boundary. This generally happens when an atom is traveling in a specific direction and happens to find a very tiny gap between the molecules in the boundary, and thus escapes. Permeability is generally the measure of the size / # of gaps in a boundary whereby other substances can leak through (or how much substance will leak through a given boundary).

As osmosis happens a balloon will lose some of its helium, thus a little of its pressure/density, and it will start to sink. It's the same reason that birthday balloons will float for a few days or a week and then slowly start to sink off the ceiling. A few days later, it'll hit the floor and start to shrivel up. That's just because the pressure internally is causing a few atoms at a time to escape the balloon's surface when they fine extremely minute holes in the molecules of the rubber.

4) how far a balloon travels along the surface of the earth really just depends on what weather it encounters... If it's clear skies with little or no wind it won't move very far. If released in the right area, it might hit a jetstream or a high velocity air/wind current and be accelerated to high speeds, thus covering great distances. So, windy days or parts of the year may tend to increase your chances of it going further. Or releasing it into an area near the jet stream, or areas known to have high winds at higher elevations.

Hope this all helps. :) And.. I'm spent.

Answer 4

This height depends on the elasticity and size of the balloon in question. As the balloon rises, the helium inside the balloon will expand, and after a while, pop the balloon.

Answer 5

a balloon will not in any respect commute in area. they explode after a particular top which relies upon on the textile from it is made, inner rigidity and temperature upward push due sunlight. This because the gas from interior expands because the exterior presure shrink. If the balloon gained't quit, like said, until eventually the extreme top is attain, it is going to explode. particular balloons can attain 30km severe.