So, I’m watching the saga of the “Balloon Boy” LIVE from Colorado (isn’t the internet amazing!) and I look at the balloon. I think OK… the balloon looks like it’s about 25 feet in diameter and about 5 feet in height. It turns out that it’s 20 feet in diameter and 5 feet at its deepest… pretty close
A 2 second Google search reveals that Helium (the gas in the balloon) will lift about 1 gram per liter. If the balloon were a perfect cylinder then calculating it’s volume (V=Pi*R*R*H) you would get that the balloon, at Sea level, could lift ~44Kg. And that’s at sea level – Denver, CO, which is close to their house is near the “Mile high” stadium – so the air is thinner and the balloon lifts less. Also, the balloon is very far from a perfect cylinder so say it has (erring on the safe side) about 60% to 70% of the volume so it will lift even less.
Google also has some links to standard age/weight charts and the average six-year-old kid is between 25 to 35 kilos.
If the boy was in the balloon, the balloon on the incessant video would have had a more classic “balloon” shape as the bottom would be pulled down by the weight of the boy and the helium would tend to stretch the top.
Yet there I sat listening to CNN, local news and other pundits including State Police, SAR, the National Guard and even licensed balloonists speculating that the boy was aloft and the helicopters were in hot pursuit in the event the boy would land somewhere.
When the Balloon finally reached the ground… Surprise, surprise – no Kid.
Seriously does anyone even think this way anymore?!
P.S. I’m very glad the boy was found safe and sound – his parents should definitely ground him!
