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General Science => General Science => Topic started by: paul.fr on 09/04/2007 17:57:19

Title: How high can a helium filled balloon fly before it bursts?
Post by: paul.fr on 09/04/2007 17:57:19

How high can a helium filled balloon fly before it bursts?

last summer i filled a black refuse bag bith helium balloons and watched it until i could no longer see it. It seemed to go pretty high, when i could no longer see it i wonder if i simply popped or went so high/far that it was out of range of my eyesight.

Title: Re: How high can a helium filled balloon fly before it bursts?
Post by: another_someone on 09/04/2007 23:31:34

Rather depends how full you fill the balloon, and how elastic the balloon is.

If you only half fill a balloon with helium, it will have more room to expand before bursting the balloon (assuming there is enough helium in the balloon to offset the weight of the balloon).

The moral of the story is only fill the balloon with the minimum amount needed to lift the weight of the balloon.

Title: Re: How high can a helium filled balloon fly before it bursts?
Post by: Karen W. on 11/04/2007 05:15:16

That is interesting.Does the air pressure cause the gas to expand in the balloon or does it just increase the pressure and cause it to break. I am assuming since you said it will have more room to expand that the gas increasees. why? Does heat have anything to do with it, does the pressure heat the helium up to cause the expansion??

Title: Re: How high can a helium filled balloon fly before it bursts?
Post by: another_someone on 11/04/2007 07:03:41

Quote from: Karen W. on 11/04/2007 05:15:16

That is interesting.Does the air pressure cause the gas to expand in the balloon or does it just increase the pressure and cause it to break. I am assuming since you said it will have more room to expand that the gas increasees. why? Does heat have anything to do with it, does the pressure heat the helium up to cause the expansion??

The pressure within balloon is in fact the difference between the pressure inside the balloon and the air pressure on the outside of the balloon.  As the balloon rises, the pressure exerted on the outside of the balloon is reduced, so the difference in pressure between the outside and the inside increases, causing the helium within the balloon to expand against the reduced outside air pressure.

Title: Re: How high can a helium filled balloon fly before it bursts?
Post by: neilep on 11/04/2007 13:12:17

It's a well known fact that migrating geese latch onto helium filled balloons for three reasons:

1: They think they are pretty and geese have a proclivity for colour matching and design

2: They enjoy the rest as they float upon balloon joy & luff

3: They like to inhale the gas and do impressions of Sparrow chirps !

yes..this is all true.

Title: Re: How high can a helium filled balloon fly before it bursts?
Post by: Karen W. on 11/04/2007 16:44:30

Thanks George!!!


Neil... LOL HEE HEE HEE!!I would enjoy the empressions!!! LOL

Title: Re: How high can a helium filled balloon fly before it bursts?
Post by: nizam on 10/03/2019 06:48:11

It is possible to design a balloon that doesn't pop. If such a balloon were allowed to rise, it would eventually reach "the top of the atmosphere" and go no higher. Imagine that you release a balloon filled with air in the deep end of a swimming pool. The balloon will rise until it is floating on top of the water and go no higher. A balloon filled with helium would eventually get to the top of the atmosphere in that same way. It would depend on the weight of the balloon, but would be between 20 and 30 miles up.
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