THE STUDY OF HELIUM AND BALLOONS
Will Barbrey
Cary Academy
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to determine how strong helium was against air and weights.
Helium weighs one gram less than air therefore air is heavier than helium so things with helium
in them float. The experiments in this study used helium and balloons and different kinds of
weights. The experiments were done using different amounts of helium in the balloons and
different amounts of air. Helium proved to be stronger and lighter than air. Helium can lift things
and carry things into the air and objects with air in them just fall.
INTRODUCTION
The reason why balloons filled with air do not float and balloons with helium do float is very
simple. Helium weighs one gram less than air. Because helium is lighter than air it floats. The
world is at a national helium shortage because of the overuse of helium. Helium makes up
0.003% of the air around us and most of that helium in the air drifts up into space and we are not
able to use it. Air is very heavy compared to helium.
If there is a comparison between one gram and nothing then there is a clear difference between
the two. When the demonstration was done helium represented the nothing and the weight
represented the air.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The materials used in these experiments were balloons, a helium tank, buckets, tape, sharpies,
string, fan, meter sticks, scissors, timers, toy car, and a scale.
In the first experiment a balloon was filled completely with helium. Another balloon was filled
halfway and the other half was filled with breath. Another balloon was filled 85% up with
helium and 15% filled with air. The next balloon was filled three fourths up with helium and
25% filled with air. The other balloon was filled 75% up with air and one fourth filled with
helium. The very last balloon was filled with no helium, just breath. Each balloon was dropped
from one meter in the air. The times for each balloon to drop, was averaged out of three times
dropped per balloon.
In experiment two one balloon was filled completely with helium and put in front of a fan. The
fan was put on different speeds. Meter sticks were put on the ground to determine the distance
that the balloon traveled after being let go. The fan was put on different speeds and the balloon
was put in front of the fan and was pushed out to the ceiling and then the distance was recorded.
This was repeated three times per fan speed.
In the third experiment dominoes were tied to the string of the balloon. The first balloon had no
dominoes tied to the string but the second balloon had one domino and the third had two
dominos. Each balloon was dropped from one meter and the time to drop was recorded.
In the fourth experiment a wooden car was weighed and the weight was recorded. A balloon was
tied to the car and the car was weighed again. Two balloons were put on the car and then the car
was weighed again. Three balloons were strapped to the car and the car was weighed again.
In experiment five each balloon was filled with different amounts of helium and the rest of the
balloon was filled with air. The time for each balloon to float was recorded in hours.
In the final experiment all the balloons on the car in experiment four were timed and each hour
the weight of the car was recorded to find out if the car would weigh more overtime because the
balloons were slowly loosing helium.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
2
1.8
Time to Drop (sec)
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0
20
40
60
80
100
Helium Amount (percent)
Figure 1: Different percentages of helium
The balloon’s height increased as more helium and less breath (Figure 1). Helium is meant to
make the balloons float and rise in the air. Helium does this because it is lighter than air and light
things will move up. A balloon filled with helium weighs a gram less than a balloon filled with
air. When the breath and helium is mix then the balloon weighs slightly more than a regular
helium balloon because it has breath in it also. There was a significant rise of time to drop
between 50% and 75%. There was also a very slight change of drop time between 0% and 25%.
How Far The Balloons Went (cm)
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
off
Low
Medium
High
Fan Speed
Figure 2: Fan speeds and how far the balloons went
There was an extreme high on the high setting of the fan. The medium and low setting were very
close together. The high setting was so far apart from the other settings because the fan would
blow out more air and then the balloon would go farther because of the pressure of the wind. The
data for low and medium setting are almost the same because there was not much difference
between the pressure of air for medium and low.
1.4
Time to fall (one meter)
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
# of dominoes
Figure 3: The number of dominoes tied to a balloon and the time for the balloon to fall
The more dominoes tied to the string of the balloon the less time it took to fall. The balloon took
more time to fall with no dominoes because the balloon had less weight holding it down. The
balloon took less time to fall with each domino because the dominoes put more weight on the
string therefore weighing down the balloon and bringing down the balloon.
144
Weight of car (g)
143
142
141
140
139
138
137
136
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
# of balloons
Figure 4: Multiple balloons were tied to a toy car
The weight of the car decreased and the number of balloons decreased the amount of weight of
the car. The balloons decreased the weight of the car because helium weighs less than air and
therefore making the car weigh less.
50000
45000
Floating Time (sec)
40000
35000
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Helium in balloons (%)
Figure 5: Floating time of balloons with different amounts of helium in them
There was a huge difference between seventy five percent and one hundred percent of helium
and a large difference between fifty percent and seventy five. There were very large increases in
data because the balloons needed a lot of helium to float and the balloons that did not have a lot
of helium in them did not float as long. The reason that balloons need helium is because helium
is lighter than air and the lighter the balloon the longer it floats.
Weight of car overtime (g)
144
143
142
141
140
139
138
137
136
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Time sitting (hrs)
Figure 6: The more time the car sits with balloons ties to it the more it weigh
The car from experiment four was set out for different amounts of hours. There was a
surprisingly no change between three and four hours. After five hours there was no additional
weight to the car. It was as if the balloons weren’t even there.
CONCLUSION
In all of these experiments they proved that helium is superior in lifting things. Helium lifts
balloons because helium is one gram lighter than air. This data is important because people
might want to put up balloons for a birthday party and this data shows that helium is very
powerful and can lift balloons better than just air. The hypothesis was correct because the
hypothesis was that helium lifts up the balloons better than just air because air is heavy compared
to helium. Helium is very light and therefore lifts up the balloons. Some follow up experiments
for this topic might include testing what helium does to objects over time and how long different
numbers of balloons take to pick something up.
CITATIONS
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2013
Demand Media INC. “How Does A Helium Balloon Float” Cool Quiz. Demand Media INC,
2010. Web. February 10, 2013.
Hasan, Heather. Helium. New York: Oxford UP, 2006. Print.
Becker, Lewis A. Helium: Characteristics, Compounds, and Applications. Oxford: Nova Science
Pub Inc. 2011. Print.
Landon, Davis. “Helium: The Studies.” Helium (2001): 122 Encyclopedia of Britannica. Web.
20 January 2013.
Katherine, Lin. “THE STUDY OF DOES THE AMOUNT OF HELIUM IN A BALLOON
AFFECT HOW LONG THE BALLOON STAYS IN THE AIR.” 12 January 2013. Doc.