Alright so today I wanted to figure out what gases are basically the total opposite of helium. You know how helium floats up like crazy? Yeah – what sinks like a rock? Grabbed some gear like regular air tanks, sulfur hexafluoride (saw it online, sounded wild), argon, krypton, and messed with nitrogen too. For safety? Threw on gloves and opened every window.
The Kitchen Sink Test Begins
First, blew up normal party balloons with each gas. Tied them off tight and just… let go. Watched like a hawk.
- Nitrogen Balloon: Fell kinda slow, like a lazy leaf. Boring.
- Argon Balloon: Thumped down faster than air. Okay, getting somewhere.
- Sulfur Hexafluoride Balloon: THIS one. Plummeted straight to the floor like someone punched it. Exactly what I wanted – helium’s evil twin.
- Krypton Balloon: Weirdly sat still mid-air for a sec, then sank. Thought it was stuck.
Next step? Pouring gas like water. Used a big glass jug for sulfur hexafluoride – careful not to breathe any. Trickled it slow into a fishbowl. Poured regular air on top? Hexafluoride didn’t even twitch. Just sat heavy at the bottom. Then tried sliding a cheap paper boat over it – sunk instantly. Felt dumb holding a boat over invisible gas.
Cheap Gas vs. Fancy Gas Drama
Turns out the hard part is getting these heavy gases without going broke.
- Argon: Cheap! Welding shops have tons. Good backup.
- Sulfur Hexafluoride: Costs more than fancy coffee. Seriously. Sold tiny amounts because it’s used in tech stuff.
- Krypton: Forget it unless you’re stuffing lightbulbs. My wallet cried thinking about it.
Almost wrecked everything when testing chlorine out of old curiosity. DO NOT RECOMMEND. Smelled like pool accident days before giving up halfway. Eyes watered for an hour. Stick to dumb-as-rocks safe gases like argon. Saved the heavier tanks for another dumb test.
So what sinks harder than helium?
- Super Champ: Sulfur hexafluoride (expensive show-off)
- Budget Pick: Argon (easy to grab, sinks decent)
- Wild Card: Krypton (weirdly float-sinks, pricy)
Just… don’t breathe any of ‘em. And maybe skip chlorine.