Question on helium regarding inflation

There isn't enough volume in a uni tire to make any significant
difference in its weight. Also, Helium atoms are the second
smallest--and are likely to speed their way through the sides of the
tube and tire during the course of your ride.

--
lukkyjay

john_childs said:

Beer brewed with some marijuana will get you high hops.

~<''>~ unicycle for 'Flying Spaghetti Monster'
(http://www.venganza.org/) ~<''>~
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Borgschulze said:

Hey.. put credit where credit is due.

well you did not actually ask the question, you just had a wise crack
at why someones uni is so light.

But yes Mr Borgschulze was the inspiration behind this thread.

--
tobbogonist

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Quoted message said:

Yelling: 'Where's me faber castels?'

monkeyman said:

It's fun to run around, pumping a shotgun, and shooting at your
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I think this was discussed a couple of years ago.

My opinion - a tire would not hold enough volume of helium to make any
significant difference in weight.

--
Wheel Rider

A man can fail many times but he isn't a failure until he begins to
blame someone else. - Waite Phillips
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see my response in 'how heavy is your uni?' thread

--
kington99

Dave

- what a thoroughly post-modern subversion of the cycling genre -
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Theoretically, if you had a big enough tire, you could "float" when you
hopped...

--
benjaug

'My wicked awesome gallery' (www.youtube.com/user/benjaug)
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benjaug said:

Theoretically, if you had a big enough tire, you could "float" when you
hopped...

theoretically yes, but completely impossible, your weight plus the
weight of the rubber would be impossible for the helium to make up for.

--
Chris.James

"Thats my favorite thing about unicycling, I can eat oreos while
riding!" ~Me

S_Wallis said:

I will be looking forward to the butt-lip photos.

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tobbogonist said:

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know whether inflating a tyre with
helium would make any difference on the over all performace or if it is
even possible. I would think helium is not 'light enough' to warrant
any difference in weight etc.

Yet the child-like logic that has been bestowed in me by picture books
and cartoons lead me to express my curiousity

As another poster says, I'd expect the tyre to go flat *really*
quickly. Helium is very good at finding its way out of things - this
is why (I think) helium balloons are usually all metal coated. If
they're just rubber, the helium leaks out *through* the rubber really
quickly.

--
mark williamson

Dave: Just a question. What use is a unicyle with no seat? And no
pedals!
Mark: To answer a question with a question: What use is a skateboard?
Dave: Skateboards have wheels.
Mark: My wheel has a wheel!
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Whilst this is somethings of a stab in the dark I'm thinking that as the
helium atoms are less dense and therefore further apart the tyre may
compress more when you hop/ride/whatever so more prone to hitting the
rim. Probably not enough volume to make a difference but you never
know.

--
twerpy
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mark williamson said:

Helium is very good at finding its way out of things - this is why (I
think) helium balloons are usually all metal coated. If they're just
rubber, the helium leaks out *through* the rubber really quickly.

Another not-particularly-scientific response: while the idea of helium
being small and likely to leak makes sense, my experience with rubber
party balloons is that either helium or air will leak through, and I've
not noticed a significant difference in time between them.

As is seeming quite agreed, the 'lift' gained would not be of a useful
or even detectable amount. Think how much a helium balloon can lift
from the ground? Only a few tens of grams per balloon. I once spent
hours at home after going to a fair trying to create equilibrium with a
balloon, and all it needed was a small paper 'basket' with some extra
paper in to fine-tune the weight. Those wacky types who go flying with
balloons tied to a chair have thousands of them!😄

Sam

--
redwelly

"Sometimes you feel like pizza, somethings you feel like chocolate,
sometimes you feel like throwing up, so it's really nice to be able to
pick and choose." - Ken Looi, -GizmoDuck-
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Permit me to interject;

Helium does diffuse through materials at a faster rate than N2 or O2.
The effect is most noticable in rubber baloons, and less in Aluminized
Mylar (those "metal" looking baloons).

One can calculate the difference in mass between a tire filled with
helium and one filled with air. An exercise I will leave for the
student (hint: think Ideal Gas Law).

There will be a quiz on this next Thursday

Dr. Science

--
Dr. Science
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It would take over 3,000 balloons to make a 120 lb person float. One
time my dad and I calculated it using mass numbers of helium vs
nitrogen along with some other laws that I do not remember right now.

--
drebble
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Dr. Science said:

An exercise I will leave for the student (hint: think Ideal Gas Law)

Surely this isn't an ideal gas? The pressure is high enough that there
may well be inter atomic interaction, and compresibility charts have to
be used in order obtain a solution.

--
kington99

Dave

- what a thoroughly post-modern subversion of the cycling genre -
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they floated a man with helium balloons, or at least a child, on myth
busters.

Thanks for your answers. I did not think it would work but considered
it an interesting conversational topic.

Another Helium Question, if i took a balloon (regular not matal coated
or anything spesh) filled with helium, is it possible to submerge it?
and if so is there anyway i could see the heilum leaving the balloon
through bubbles? even if i left it there and recorded it. that would be
quite a sight.

--
tobbogonist

'Corn Cam' (http://www.iowafarmertoday.com/corn_cam/)

Quoted message said:

Yelling: 'Where's me faber castels?'

monkeyman said:

It's fun to run around, pumping a shotgun, and shooting at your
friends.

Check this ^^guys^^ bag before he goes to school.
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Dave;

You are correct, there are limits to the ideal behavior of gases. One
model for correcting for this departure was developed by Van der Waals
and is discussed here;
http://tinyurl.com/yfaydc

Here is the bottom line; it's a very small correction for the pressures
(2-3 atm) used in tires.

+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Filename: waalplot.gif |
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--
Dr. Science

There will be a quiz on this next Thursday

Dr. Science
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tobbogonist said:

Another Helium Question, if i took a balloon (regular not matal coated
or anything spesh) filled with helium, is it possible to submerge it?
and if so is there anyway i could see the heilum leaving the balloon
through bubbles? even if i left it there and recorded it. that would be
quite a sight.

Or am i thinking to logically?

--
tobbogonist

'Corn Cam' (http://www.iowafarmertoday.com/corn_cam/)

Quoted message said:

Yelling: 'Where's me faber castels?'

monkeyman said:

It's fun to run around, pumping a shotgun, and shooting at your
friends.

Check this ^^guys^^ bag before he goes to school.
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tobbogonist said:

Or am i thinking to logically?

There is no such thing as thinking too logically. I would be possible
to submerge the baloon given enough force, distributed properly. It's
hard to predict whether or not the He loss rate would produce visible
bubbles on a reasonably short time scale (minutes). This is a case
where one needs to do the experiment.

--
Dr. Science

There will be a quiz on this next Thursday

Dr. Science
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yey/yay!!

i am going to need a bunsen burner though, the best experiments always
incorperate a bunsen burner.

Actually in all seriousness i might just try this. i think i have an
old fishtank in the shed somewhere.

--
tobbogonist

'Corn Cam' (http://www.iowafarmertoday.com/corn_cam/)

Quoted message said:

Yelling: 'Where's me faber castels?'

monkeyman said:

It's fun to run around, pumping a shotgun, and shooting at your
friends.

Check this ^^guys^^ bag before he goes to school.
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actually, another question Dr Science, make that two questions; If i
place a regular balloon full of helium in an air tight container of
some description, what would happen. would the helium leak out and mix
with the air or would there be to much pressure for this to occur?

and also, where did you come from?

--
tobbogonist

'Corn Cam' (http://www.iowafarmertoday.com/corn_cam/)

Quoted message said:

Yelling: 'Where's me faber castels?'

monkeyman said:

It's fun to run around, pumping a shotgun, and shooting at your
friends.

Check this ^^guys^^ bag before he goes to school.
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tobbogonist said:

Another Helium Question, if i took a balloon (regular not matal coated
or anything spesh) filled with helium, is it possible to submerge it?
and if so is there anyway i could see the heilum leaving the balloon
through bubbles? even if i left it there and recorded it. that would be
quite a sight.

My non-scientific opinion.....
Yes, you could submerge it with enough weight attached.
No, you would not see the bubbles, unless there was an obvious hole in
the balloon. If you are thinking in terms of the small amount of helium
that passes through the wall of the balloon, I would think it would be
dissolved or absorbed into the water. However, if you added a really
big weight and sank the balloon to a really great depth, the water
pressure might squeeze the helium out fast enough to see bubbles. In
that case, my answer is maybe.

--
Wheel Rider

A man can fail many times but he isn't a failure until he begins to
blame someone else. - Waite Phillips
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