The physics of the chewing gum and helium experiment

José Gonçalvesi

In a YouTubeii video we see an experiment involving gum and helium gas, creating a balloon
that can lift a person.

Using the law of hydrostatics, the driving force, impulse I, must be at least equal (as can be
seen in a certain part of the video) to the weight of the man with the balloon, W.
So, W = I

Replacing the weights, W, by m g and knowing that 𝑚 = 𝜌𝑉 , we have

4 3
𝜋𝑅 × 𝜌𝐻𝑒 + 𝑚𝑀 𝑔 = 𝜌𝐴𝑖𝑟 𝑉𝐴𝑖𝑟 𝑔
3

so the mass of man, mM, will be

4
𝑚𝑀 = 𝜋𝑅 3 𝜌𝐴𝑖𝑟 − 𝜌𝐻𝑒
3

Replacing the values of 𝜌𝐴𝑖𝑟 (15ºC) = 1,225 kg m−3 and 𝜌𝐻𝑒 = 0,20 kg m−3 we obtain

𝑚𝑀 = 4,294 𝑅3

That equation represents the dependency of the mass of the man with the ballon’s radius

On the following chart of mM = mM(R)

mH / kg
140
120
mH / kg

100
80
60
40
20
0
0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5 3 3,5
R/m

We have, for a mass exceeding 65 kg, the diameter of the balloon will be greater than 5 m.
Therefore, we can easily see that in the video is not the case.

i
José Gonçalves, Physics teacher with Master Science degree in Physics Teaching. Email:
josegoncalves@eufisica.com
ii
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTnwz6MqMl8