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
When you blow up a balloon, it reaches a point where the gas inside is pushing out the way, and the balloon itself and the air outside are pushing in the way.
When it gets higher up, the pressure outside drops. This doesn’t mean there’s more pressure inside, but the difference between the inside and outside is greater. So now it’s just the gas inside pushing out vs the balloon pulling in. So, it stretches more until the forces balance again.
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