can it go to outer space?
2007-02-01 18:41:57 · 10 answers · asked by gabz 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
no, it cant. it would explode before it got there. it can onlgy go as far as the expansion limit of the baloon will allow it
note: it is NOT the atmosphere that expands the baloon. its the pressure inside the baloon and the lack of pressure outside (i.e. LACK of atmosphere outside)
2007-02-01 18:45:53 · answer #1 · answered by Dashes 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You got some good answers but there is needless confusion in some areas. Let me give you a straight and cogent answer:
!) Helium is lighter than air, so the balloon goes up.
2) As it goes up, the balloon keeps expanding since the outer atmospheric pressure is lower than the inside pressure. At any given point of time, the inner and outer pressures are to be balanced, and so the balloon expands.
3) As it rises higher, the density of the air outside keeps becoming lower and lower thus the balloon's buoyancy keeps getting reduced. Buoyancy is the lift provided by the weight of the air displaced minus the weight of the balloon (weight of helium inside and the weight of the empty balloon).
4) As it rises higher and higher, the buoyancy becomes zero and the balloon stops accelerating, it will continue to move upwards due to the momentum.
5) Now the weight of the baloon is more than the weight of the displaced air and hence the gravity starts pulling it towards the earth, thus decelerating the balloon and forcing it to stop.
6) The balloon stays there if no external factors work on it.
The height can be calculated if all factors like the weight of helium, the weight of the empty balloon, air density at different heights etc. are known. It can be tracked using RADAR and a laser beam, telemetry etc.
2007-02-01 20:01:29 · answer #2 · answered by Swamy 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No way!!!
A lot of things could happen to the balloon... beside the expansion of the gas with the change of pressure mentioned by other answerers, the sun will heat the balloon and it will explode before it gets very far.
Of course it depends on the material the balloon is made of. If it is made of a resistant material (and also a reflecting one, as some meteorological ones are). In that case, it would neither go to the space, because there is some helium in the upper part of the atmosphere that is kept on earth by gravity. Once reached the altitude of the same density, it will remain there.
Keep your imagination flying as the balloons!!!
2007-02-01 19:21:54 · answer #3 · answered by killercuy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Theoretically, helium molecules are sufficiently and have enough average molecular velocity to overcome Earth's gravity (so called escape velocity). It applies to free helium molecules.
The story of a balloon full of helium has different practical concerns.. As others stated, atmospheric pressure at high altitudes drops making the helium inside expand. It is therefore the material properties (strength and permeability) to restrain the expansion as well as not allowing helium to leak at cold and near vacuum conditions. The ordinary rubber balloons won't rise too far but scientific research balloons can.
2007-02-01 19:17:24 · answer #4 · answered by Sir Richard 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I used to be a weatherman in the Air Force. We used to do Rawinsonde studies all the time. Rawinsonde stands for Radio Wind Sounding. We used a weather balloon about 10 feet in diameter filled with helium (sometimes we used hydrogen - we made it out of ammonia, NH3). We graphically divided the atmosphere into 1000 equal bands of pressure, called millibars. The balloon had a transmitter attached to it that sent back signals for temperature and humidity. The signals were sent in accordance with the pressure. We tracked the balloon with radar. As it got higher and higher, it would rise slower and slower, until the balloon burst. We could sometimes get a balloon up to around 3 or 4 millibars before it burst - by then the balloon was over a mile across. The balloon was sealed until it was used, because in order to get something to stretch that much, it degraded quickly in open packages. They were pretty cool - you could just keep stretching it and stretching it - really weird. It was like it was alive, like skin. In order to get one into outerspace, without the transmitter, the balloon would have to stretch 100's of miles. And that last few millibars would probably take days.
2007-02-01 21:00:11 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Possibly the balloon would never reach ouer space or else we could have used it instead of rockets.
The helium ballon floats us because of archemedes principal which states that when a body is immersed in a liquid(fluid) it experiances an upthrust which is equal to the weight of the volume of the liquid displaced. In lower layers the balloon displaces say' x 'c.c.. x c.c. of air in lower atmosphere weighs more than the ballon since it is denser than upper atmosphere. But in the upper atmosphere a stage will surely come when weight of air(fluid) displaced will be equal to weight of balloon. The balloon will stop there.
besides it may always burst on it way up due to pressure difference.
2007-02-01 20:57:02 · answer #6 · answered by arka_spacerocker 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
nobody can tell u the exact height because it depends upon the atmospheric pressure at that particular place.
when that ballon is in your hand, atmospheric pressure and inside ballon pressure is in equilibrium position. U should know that as u go up, atmospheric pressure is low and low.
when ballon goes up, it will brust at that first position where atmospheric pressure is less than inside air perssure.
2007-02-01 18:57:21 · answer #7 · answered by Tom 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, because at some point the atmosphere forces the gas to expand and pop the balloon.
2007-02-01 18:45:24 · answer #8 · answered by Jon A 4 · 0⤊ 3⤋
It goes to heaven so the baby angels can play with them.
2007-02-01 18:45:32 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋
well I guess the only way to find that one out, is to follow it, ha ha.
2007-02-01 18:46:16 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋