WEBVTT - How many balloons would it take to life someone off the ground?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from house stuff works dot com,

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<v Speaker 1>where smart happens Him Marshall Brain with today's question, how

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<v Speaker 1>many regular sized helium filled balloons would it take to

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<v Speaker 1>lift someone off the ground. Here's how you could figure

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<v Speaker 1>it out. Helium has a lifting force of about one

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<v Speaker 1>gram per leader. A normal balloon at amusement park might

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<v Speaker 1>be thirty centimeters or about a foot in diameter, so

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<v Speaker 1>it holds about fourteen liters of helium. Therefore, a normal

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<v Speaker 1>amusement park balloon can lift about fourteen grams if you

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<v Speaker 1>assume that the way of the balloon itself and its

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<v Speaker 1>string is pretty negligible. If you weigh fiftys are about

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<v Speaker 1>a hundred and ten pounds, then you weigh fifty thousand grams.

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<v Speaker 1>Divide your fifty thousand grams by the fourteen grams per balloon,

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<v Speaker 1>and you find that you need about three thousand, five

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<v Speaker 1>hundred balloons to lift your weight. You might want to

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<v Speaker 1>add five hundred more if you actually would like to

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<v Speaker 1>rise at a reasonable rate, So you need roughly four

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<v Speaker 1>thousands and balloons to lift you if you weigh fiftys,

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<v Speaker 1>and you can adjust that number according to your weight.

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<v Speaker 1>So if you weigh more like a hundred ms. You

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<v Speaker 1>would need to double the number of balloons to eight thousand.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's say that instead of going to the amusement park,

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<v Speaker 1>you go to an army surplus store and you buy

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<v Speaker 1>a three meter or roughly ten ft balloon. It can

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<v Speaker 1>hold about fourteen thousand liters. It would take only five

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<v Speaker 1>of those to give you the same amount of lift.

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