how do helium baloons float? or any gas lighter than air. if a baloon filled with air gets pulled to the ground due to gravity (weight of baloon etc.) why do helium ones get pulled away from the earth. they must have an opposing force stronger than gravity +the weight of baloon. also hypothetically what would happen a helium baloon in a place with little to no force of gravity? in space would they just shrink or explode?
2007-05-17 00:29:02 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
how do helium baloons float? or any gas lighter than air. if a baloon filled with air gets pulled to the ground due to gravity (weight of baloon etc.) why do helium ones get pulled away from the earth. they must have an opposing force stronger than gravity +the weight of baloon. also hypothetically what would happen a helium baloon in a place with little to no force of gravity? in space would they just shrink or explode? ................................... answers below dont answer it, if its lighter than air gravity would still affect it
2007-05-17 00:36:53 · update #1
It's all done by mirrors isn't it - the same way as airplanes fly ! ! !
2007-05-17 00:33:43 · answer #1 · answered by coxon the box 7 · 2⤊ 3⤋
Believe it or not, a balloon full of Helium floats due to the density of the air surrounding it !
The 'force' that you see as causing a balloon to float upwards is actually caused by the air around the balloon being denser than the combined density of the balloon and the Helium inside it. This causes the air above the balloon to be pulled down by gravity and physically displaces the balloon upwards. Eventually the balloon will reach a sufficient height where the density of the surrounding air exactly matches the density of the balloon and the Helium and the balloon will no longer rise.
You can prove this by trying to take a balloon full of air to the bottom of the deep end of a swimming pool. The difference in density between the air in the balloon and the surrounding water is so great that you'll be hard-pressed to get the balloon even a few feet down without the aid of a large weight !
In an environmnent with an atmosphere, but no gravity, the same effect wouldn't be seen. This is because although the density of the air is still greater than the density of the balloon and the Helium, there is no force of gravity to pull the surrounding air downwards over the balloon and thus displace the balloon upwards. The balloon would stay wherever you put it, regardless of what it was filled with.
In an environment with no atmosphere, regardless of whether there is any gravity, the balloon would just explode. This is because of the difference in internal and external pressure on the balloon. The only thing that normally stops a balloon from exploding is the pressure of the atmosphere outside it (15lbs/in^2 at the Earth's surface.)
2007-05-17 01:22:35 · answer #2 · answered by Timbo 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Air pressure gets less as you go higher in the atmosphere therefore the air pressure at the bottom of the baloon is greater than that at the top. This creates an upwards force. If the baloon weighs less than this force (becauses its full of helium) then it rises. Eventually the air around the baloon becomes so thin that the pressure difference between the top and bottom is not enough to cause the baloon to go higher and it floats.
A baloon released into space would probably expode. An object baloon or other moving at sufficient speed above the earths atmosphere will go into orbit. Object not in orbit will fall to earth. There is no air to support a baloon. The force of gravity say 200 miles (320 km) above the Earth is almost the same as at sea level. The reason you don't feel weight in orbit is because you are in free fall like in a rapidly descending roller coaster. In orbit you are simultaneously falling to Earth and moving at right angles to the Earth so that you do not actually reach the Earth but continue in a circle or elipse.
2007-05-17 01:09:20 · answer #3 · answered by alan P 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There is no opposing force, it's just that heavier gas pushes its way down and the lighter gas (or balloon) is pushed up to fill the gap.
Look at a bubble in a glass, it's the same thing. the liquid is heavier and so stays where it is and pushes anything lighter up; because the liquid above the bubble wants to get underneath it. Its called displacement.
Gravity does effect the balloon, it effects everything, but not as much as the heavier air around it. The mass of the rubber makes no difference if you have enough helium.
So, if you had a baloon filled with just enough helium to make the whole mass the same weight as air, it would stay hovering. things that are lighter than air move through it because they are pushed up by it.
In a space with no gravity, the balloon wouldn't move. Gravity is a force acting on something, and according to Newton, if you pull something it will move; don't pull it and it stays still.
Of course there exists no space in the universe that isn't effected by the gravity of something, but that's being pedantic!
2007-05-17 00:34:35 · answer #4 · answered by loathsomedog 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
The scientific principal at work is buoyancy, the same principal that makes oil tankers float.
Buoyancy is a characteristic intrinsic is all fluids and yes air is a fluid. The buoyant force is equal the the weight of the air displaced by the balloon.
The if total mass of the helium and balloon is less than the mass of the air displaced by the balloon and helium it rises.
Without gravity acting on the fluids their would be no buoyant force, but gravity can not be escaped, according to the universal law of gravitation.
In space, due to the fact that space is a vacuum the balloon would explode. In actuality the balloon would never reach space as the balloon gets higher in the atmosphere their is less external pressure so the balloon expands until the balloon pops.
2007-05-17 00:49:42 · answer #5 · answered by Brian K² 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
because the volume of air displaced by the helium balloon weighs more than the helium and rubber balloon together so it rises.
the balloon filled with helium will experience gravity still. it is not being "pulled" upwards.
remember that air has a mass of 1.25g per litre
helium is less dense with a mass of 0.18g per litre.
a litre bottle of air will be about 1 gram heavier than a litre bottle of helium. helium still has gravity acting on it.
if a balloon is filled with a volume of 2 litres of helium, the helium in the balloon will weigh 0.36 grams.
the air displaced by this balloon will weigh 2.5 grams
this means as long as the rubber balloon itself (the rubber material) weighs less than 2.14 grams, it will float upwards.
this is due to buoyancy laws
2007-05-17 00:31:36 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
According to my theory I said the gravity is second production of the earth when the earth turn over it self it cuts some Fieldds look like magnetic field so this fiel when any things turn into it can let it make private electronic field and even the field some kind of electronic so the Helium as single atoms has privet movement or turning this movement created same field just that created on the earth and defiantly the same field cant attractive them self and then you get it floating over over into the sky and if the powers of helium field is biggest than normal you cant see helium on the earth at all. This analysis you can apply it for all gas and why some material heavy and some is have light weight.
2007-05-17 00:49:39 · answer #7 · answered by stpone 1 · 0⤊ 3⤋
helium rises, and the weight of the balloon is not enough to keep it on the ground
yes - they need a string to tie it to a child's wrist so they (the balloon not the child) do not fly away
in a spaceship - the balloon would hold the helium - but would remain in place until touched
in space - the gas would expand and pop the balloon
2007-05-17 00:35:55 · answer #8 · answered by tom4bucs 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
its not gravity..
air is combination of may types of gas such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, helium and many more..
air weighs the same, but the gases in it don't weigh the same.
hydrogen is the lightest gas, helium is second..
this gases exist only a small amount in air..
so, if a balloon is filled with helium, it will weigh less than air (the percentage of helium in air is very low)..
and if there is no gravity, both air filled balloon and helium balloons will act the same way..
they just float in mid air..
2007-05-17 00:47:30 · answer #9 · answered by kish 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
There is a force - its called upthrust or buoyoncy and is present of an object in any fluids.
It is becuase the more dense air around the balloon is pulled down, so the balloon gets pushed up
2007-05-17 00:37:30 · answer #10 · answered by Marky 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Because Helium is lighter than air.
2007-05-17 00:33:55 · answer #11 · answered by Mad Professor 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋