Veda #18 : Up, Up, And Away

Day 18
Question by : Me - "Could hanging on a helium balloon could make you fly?and how many balloons to make that happen?"


Okay, so first, congratulation to "Up" for being the Best Animated Feature Film on Golden Globe Award...yaaay.
For you who don't know what was Up about, it was a movie about a husband/grandfather, who lived alone because of his wive was dead, before accomplishing their dream to go to Angel Falls waterfalls. The grieving husband suddenly had this "insane" idea, to fly his house to Angel Falls, with only using a bunch of helium balloons.
It sounds so cartoonish and full of imagination, but let's take it a lil bit serious this time. If somebody wanted to fly with a helium baloons, how many baloons would it take to make somebody float?. Let's assume this person's weight is around 50 kg.

Now, let's explain about this helium baloon and it's basic principles.
A helium balloon works on the same basic principle as an air bubble in water. A bubble rises in water because it is lighter than the water around it. The water pressure pushes the lightweight bubble upward. Now, let's consider the air is the water, and helium baloon is the bubble. With a helium balloon, what you have is a "bubble" of helium rising in an ocean of air. Helium has a lifting force of about one gram per liter. That happens because helium atoms weigh less than the oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the air.

If one liter of helium can lift about a gram, and if you weigh 50 kg, let's assume there are 1000 grams in a kilogram, then you are going to need about 50,000 liters of helium to lift yourself off the ground. So the question becomes, "How many balloons does it take to hold 50,000 liters of helium?"
If you buy a balloon, it is normally about 30 cm in diameter. A balloon like that holds about 14-15 liters of helium. let's assume it 15, therefore one baloon could lift 15 grams or so if you assume that the balloon and the string don't weigh anything.

standard helium baloon that we used as measurement...

Let's calculate now.
the body's weight = 50 kg
amount of helium needed to lift = 50,000 litres
amount of helium in one baloon = 15 litres
therefore, to lift a person with 50 kg weight, it would need about : 50,000 / 15 = 3,333 balloons
Let's assume you're gonna need 3,500 baloons to add some more to compensate for the weight of the 3,333 balloons and all their strings.
So, GOOD LUCK!

up, up, and away!!