I just don’t understand what’s happening to them. Everything I’ve read says the lower external pressure causes the helium inside the balloon to expand. Does this just mean the pressure inside the balloon is rising as if I blew up a balloon to far till it bursts? Why does the balloon expand?
In: Physics
As it rises the external pressure declines, so the gas withIN the envelope of the balloon expands as it basically meets less and less resistance. Assuming the balloon was inflated at sea level, The internal pressure would be approximately 14 pounds per square inch (I apologize for not going metric). The air pressure at 30,000 ft is about 4.3 psi. At 50,000 feet the air pressure is about 1.6 psi. At that altitude the balloon’s volume will expand by 14 divided by 1.6. So the balloon will be about 8.75 times larger than at launch. Hope this helps.
Latest Answers