Heart of the City by Steenz for March 26, 2015

lol

Should’ve checked the weather report, Dean, before you tried to pull this stunt.

@Dean

Sadly…Reality HATES Children.

Um… no..Cold gases shrink (air around the balloon, helium inside the balloon) if the pressure stays roughly constant. The helium escapes faster when it’s hotter: the molecules move faster and hit the balloon skin more often, and the balloon is more stretched out by the expanded gas so that the balloon skin is thinner..The lifting power of the helium in the balloon shouldn’t change if the temperature inside the balloon is the same as the air temperature outside the balloon.

Now you know why we don’t fly hot-air balloons during the Wintertime.

False! Cooling down a helium-filled balloon will cause it to shrink and sink, but not because it loses helium. Temperature changes affect the density of gases: their density increases as the temperature drops. As a result, the helium reaches a point where it becomes denser than air, and it sinks.

heart’s not on board with the big push for girls to learn STEM stuff, huh? oh well. don’t end up like me heart, a 50 yearold bookworm who’s career’s been eaten by technology

Good point Heart.

I think we need to get Ted Wells on this right away. How long do you think he will need to investigate the possible causes of deflated balloons and reach a conclusion?

Josh Lyons: There is a lot more hot air ballooning around here in the winter than summer – probably because of reduced temperature differential in the summer.

You’d have to check with the New England Patriots.

If a helium-filled balloon initially at room temperature is placed in a freezer, will its volume increase, decrease, or remain the same?

The ideal gas law states that PV/T is constant. The pressure in the freezer is atmospheric pressure, the temperature in the freezer is lower that the outside temperature, so the volume of the balloon decreases when it is placed into the freezer.

Science damn you, Dean!