2006-12-27 16:05:55 · 1 answers · asked by anita n 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
This would depend upon the size of the envelope of the balloon.
The smallest balloons have less than 1,000 cubic meters (35,000 ft³) of envelope volume. These are the one-man type without a basket (they use a harness).
The large commercial sightseeing balloons that can carry twenty five or thirty people have envelope volumes of up to 15,000 cubic meters (600,000 ft³), with some even larger.
Most balloons, of the variety seen at Balloon Fests, can carry a basket with 3 or 4 people and are about 2,500 cubic meters (100,000 ft³).
The amount of fabric required to enclose these volumes is dependent upon the shape of the balloon. The most effective shape is almost an inverted Tear-drop which requires more fabric than a sphere.
Using a typical 2,500 cubic meters (100,000 ft³) volume, a cubical shape would require about 13.57 meters (46.1 feet) on a edge. This would be about 2125 square feet of fabric per side or 12,751 square feet for an enclosure (cube). A sphere would take less, but a typical inverted Tear-shape would probably take more fabric than this.
2006-12-27 23:07:29 · answer #1 · answered by Richard 7 · 16⤊ 0⤋