Math Homework Latex

February 15th, 2007

Question: How many latex helium-filled balloons would it take to lift a 65 pound object?

This sounds like a homework-related question, but it’s really not. I’m not in school, I’m just curious, and don’t feel like googling it. Think you can tell me the right answer?

If it’ll help, the object in question is short and skinny, with long gangly arms and legs. It is a human female, and no I will not actually be tying helium-filled balloons to her, I’m just curious about how many it would take to make her float.

For bonus points, can you give me an equation for the ratio of balloons needed in comparison to weight in general? Example: X over 100 = Y over Z. I don’t know if this is the right setup for said equation, but I’m not a math whiz. Hopefully you are.

Humor me :]

Answer: To find out how many balloons it’ll take to lift any given object, just divide the weight of the object by the weight any given balloon can lift:

N = w / c

where N is the number of balloons needed, w is the weight of the object, and c is the weight one balloon can lift. (Always make sure that w and c use the same units: if c is in grams and w in pounds, the equation won’t work. $;)$ )

You can find out the balloon’s capacity yourself: get several balloons of the type you want to use for the example and tie their strings together. Attach small weights (try paper clips) to the end of the string, gradually increasing the total weight until the balloons can just barely stay in the air. Weigh the weights, the strings, and whatever you used to attach the weights together. Divide that total weight by the number of balloons you used. The number you end up with is how much weight one balloon can lift.

I’m guessing you already know the human female’s weight, at least within a few pounds. Convert all the units appropriately, divide as mentioned above, and voila — your number! Chances are it’ll be ridiculously large, unfortunately.

(…If you do this, any chance you could message me with the lifting capacity of a helium balloon? I’m curious now, but I have no balloons to test it myself.)

Math Help

Math Homework Latex

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