Engineering >> Mechanical EngineeringLift Capacity of a Helium Balloonby Kevin Piper
Submitted : Fall 2012 To solve for the maximum payload mass in kg, I first found the mass of the balloon material by solving for the surface area of the balloon and multiplying my result by the areal density of the balloon material. To find the surface area of the entire balloon, I found the surface area of the top of the balloon, the surface area of the cylindrical portion of the balloon, and the surface area of the curved portion of the balloon defined by R(z) and added them together. Next, I found the volume of the balloon by taking the volume of the cylindrical portion of the balloon and adding it to the volume of the curved portion of the balloon defined by R(z). I multiplied this total volume by the density of air to obtain the mass of air displaced. Next, I multiplied the total volume that I had obtained by the density of helium to give the mass of helium inside the balloon. I subtracted this mass of helium from the mass of air displaced that I had found earlier, then subtracted this value by the mass of balloon material used to obtain the maximum payload mass. Related Links:
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