Based on the postion of helium on the periodic table, why does a helium filled baloon float in the air?

Answer 1

Helium is in the period above both nitrogen and oxygen (the main components of air). This means it has a lower mass and a lower density than air. That is why a helium filled balloon will float on air.

Answer 2

Responder rscanner is close, but not quite right on. Any gas which is less dense than air will cause a balloon to float. The density of a gas is determined by its molecular weight (see formula in rscanner response). Now the element's position in the periodic table is not totally determinative -- that gives the atomic number, and only indirectly the atomic weight. And, if the element combines with others to produce a gas, the molecular weight of the compound is determinative. Thus, you can calculate that filling a balloon with methane (natural gas) would cause it to float, although not very well.

Answer 3

From How Stuff Works: It seems that helium is plenty lighter than air. the version isn't as large because it truly is between water and air (a liter of water weighs about a million,000 grams, at the same time as a liter of air weighs about a million gram), even with the undeniable fact that it truly is needed. Helium weighs 0.1785 grams in line with liter. Nitrogen weighs a million.2506 grams in line with liter, and when you consider that nitrogen makes up about 80 % of the air we breathe, a million.25 grams is an excellent approximation for the burden of a liter of air. hence, in case you've been to fill a a million-liter soda bottle complete of helium, the bottle would weigh about a million gram decrease than an same bottle full of air. that doesn't sound like a lot -- the bottle itself weighs more effective than a gram, so it received't drift. even with the undeniable fact that, in large volumes, the a million-gram-in line with-liter distinction between air and helium can somewhat upload up. This explains why blimps and balloons are often particularly large -- they ought to displace a good type of air to drift.

Answer 4

For ideal gasses, a Mole of gas takes up 22.4liters at STP. Therefore the lower the atomic weight the lower the density of the gas. Therefore any gas with a lower atomic number than O2 or N2 will float in air.

Answer 5

because heluim is lighter than air (which is a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, water vapor, and argon)