Today, I wanted to mess around with something I’ve been curious about for a while – balloons. Specifically, I wanted to see how many balloons it would take to lift something, like in those animated movies.
First, I gathered my materials. I got a bunch of regular party balloons, a big roll of string, and a helium tank. I also grabbed a small basket, just a light wicker one, to see if I could get it to float.
I started by inflating the balloons. I blew up one balloon, tied it off, and attached a string to it. Then I tied the other end of the string to the basket. It was pretty simple, but I did have to make sure the knots were good and tight.
- Inflate the balloon.
- Tie off the balloon.
- Attach a string to the balloon.
- Tie the string to the object.
I kept adding balloons, one by one. It took a while, and honestly, my fingers started to get a little sore from tying all those knots. I was counting as I went, but I lost track around 30 or so. I just kept going until the basket started to lift off the ground. It was a slow lift, not like a rocket or anything. The basket wobbled a bit, then rose a few inches.
It was actually kind of cool to see it lift off. It felt like a little bit of magic, even though it was just balloons and helium. I added a few more balloons, and the basket floated a little higher.
Trial and Error
This whole thing was definitely trial and error. Some balloons popped when I was filling them up. And I had to make sure the basket wasn’t too heavy. I tried putting a couple of small toys in the basket but it would not lift with them in. The basket had to be empty for it to float.
Eventually, I got the basket to float about a foot off the ground. It wasn’t super high, but it was definitely floating. I imagine you would need a whole lot more balloons to lift something heavier. Maybe a small animal. Don’t try that though. I just wanted to lift an empty basket.
So that was my balloon experiment. It was a fun way to spend an afternoon. It wasn’t very scientific. It wasn’t as dramatic as in the movies, but I learned a bit about how many balloons it takes to lift something. Plus, it was just cool to see it work!