How many litres of gaseous helium would it take to lift 80 kg on Earth?
Clash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP
$begingroup$
I have dragons in mind for my world, but I'm trying to find logic in how would a medium-sized anything fly off and still be a danger to humans.
So far, I have a lizard-like cheetah with wings, hollow bones and very strong legs but I still doubt it would be able to fly if it had over 60 kg. So anyway I devised a plan for that, so if anyone has knowledge of physics and such that could answer the question I would be very grateful, thanks.
physics chemistry flight
$endgroup$
|
show 5 more comments
$begingroup$
I have dragons in mind for my world, but I'm trying to find logic in how would a medium-sized anything fly off and still be a danger to humans.
So far, I have a lizard-like cheetah with wings, hollow bones and very strong legs but I still doubt it would be able to fly if it had over 60 kg. So anyway I devised a plan for that, so if anyone has knowledge of physics and such that could answer the question I would be very grateful, thanks.
physics chemistry flight
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
Welcome to Worldbuilding! If you have a moment, please take the tour and visit the help center to learn more about the site. You may also find Worldbuilding Meta and The Sandbox useful. Here is a meta post on the culture and style of Worldbuilding.SE, just to help you understand our scope and methods, and how we do things here. Have fun!
$endgroup$
– Gryphon
Jan 25 at 17:06
5
$begingroup$
We know that there were flying dinosaurs weighting 145kg or more so there's no reason your dinosaur at 60 or 80kgs could not fly without using buoyancy.
$endgroup$
– Tim B♦
Jan 25 at 17:13
1
$begingroup$
@TimB pterosaurs are not dinosaurs, but that is a good low end mass estimate for Quetzalcoatlus. the largest flying dinosaur aka bird was around 70kg.
$endgroup$
– John
Jan 25 at 17:33
$begingroup$
There is a rather useful calculator here - omnicalculator.com/everyday-life/helium-balloons
$endgroup$
– chasly from UK
Jan 25 at 20:45
$begingroup$
This seems like a pure real-world physics question to me. Since we already have a site for those, I feel like this question should be migrated there.
$endgroup$
– Ilmari Karonen
Jan 25 at 21:11
|
show 5 more comments
$begingroup$
I have dragons in mind for my world, but I'm trying to find logic in how would a medium-sized anything fly off and still be a danger to humans.
So far, I have a lizard-like cheetah with wings, hollow bones and very strong legs but I still doubt it would be able to fly if it had over 60 kg. So anyway I devised a plan for that, so if anyone has knowledge of physics and such that could answer the question I would be very grateful, thanks.
physics chemistry flight
$endgroup$
I have dragons in mind for my world, but I'm trying to find logic in how would a medium-sized anything fly off and still be a danger to humans.
So far, I have a lizard-like cheetah with wings, hollow bones and very strong legs but I still doubt it would be able to fly if it had over 60 kg. So anyway I devised a plan for that, so if anyone has knowledge of physics and such that could answer the question I would be very grateful, thanks.
physics chemistry flight
physics chemistry flight
edited Jan 25 at 22:32
Loong
256312
256312
asked Jan 25 at 16:52
Alright itsCROAlright itsCRO
242
242
$begingroup$
Welcome to Worldbuilding! If you have a moment, please take the tour and visit the help center to learn more about the site. You may also find Worldbuilding Meta and The Sandbox useful. Here is a meta post on the culture and style of Worldbuilding.SE, just to help you understand our scope and methods, and how we do things here. Have fun!
$endgroup$
– Gryphon
Jan 25 at 17:06
5
$begingroup$
We know that there were flying dinosaurs weighting 145kg or more so there's no reason your dinosaur at 60 or 80kgs could not fly without using buoyancy.
$endgroup$
– Tim B♦
Jan 25 at 17:13
1
$begingroup$
@TimB pterosaurs are not dinosaurs, but that is a good low end mass estimate for Quetzalcoatlus. the largest flying dinosaur aka bird was around 70kg.
$endgroup$
– John
Jan 25 at 17:33
$begingroup$
There is a rather useful calculator here - omnicalculator.com/everyday-life/helium-balloons
$endgroup$
– chasly from UK
Jan 25 at 20:45
$begingroup$
This seems like a pure real-world physics question to me. Since we already have a site for those, I feel like this question should be migrated there.
$endgroup$
– Ilmari Karonen
Jan 25 at 21:11
|
show 5 more comments
$begingroup$
Welcome to Worldbuilding! If you have a moment, please take the tour and visit the help center to learn more about the site. You may also find Worldbuilding Meta and The Sandbox useful. Here is a meta post on the culture and style of Worldbuilding.SE, just to help you understand our scope and methods, and how we do things here. Have fun!
$endgroup$
– Gryphon
Jan 25 at 17:06
5
$begingroup$
We know that there were flying dinosaurs weighting 145kg or more so there's no reason your dinosaur at 60 or 80kgs could not fly without using buoyancy.
$endgroup$
– Tim B♦
Jan 25 at 17:13
1
$begingroup$
@TimB pterosaurs are not dinosaurs, but that is a good low end mass estimate for Quetzalcoatlus. the largest flying dinosaur aka bird was around 70kg.
$endgroup$
– John
Jan 25 at 17:33
$begingroup$
There is a rather useful calculator here - omnicalculator.com/everyday-life/helium-balloons
$endgroup$
– chasly from UK
Jan 25 at 20:45
$begingroup$
This seems like a pure real-world physics question to me. Since we already have a site for those, I feel like this question should be migrated there.
$endgroup$
– Ilmari Karonen
Jan 25 at 21:11
$begingroup$
Welcome to Worldbuilding! If you have a moment, please take the tour and visit the help center to learn more about the site. You may also find Worldbuilding Meta and The Sandbox useful. Here is a meta post on the culture and style of Worldbuilding.SE, just to help you understand our scope and methods, and how we do things here. Have fun!
$endgroup$
– Gryphon
Jan 25 at 17:06
$begingroup$
Welcome to Worldbuilding! If you have a moment, please take the tour and visit the help center to learn more about the site. You may also find Worldbuilding Meta and The Sandbox useful. Here is a meta post on the culture and style of Worldbuilding.SE, just to help you understand our scope and methods, and how we do things here. Have fun!
$endgroup$
– Gryphon
Jan 25 at 17:06
5
5
$begingroup$
We know that there were flying dinosaurs weighting 145kg or more so there's no reason your dinosaur at 60 or 80kgs could not fly without using buoyancy.
$endgroup$
– Tim B♦
Jan 25 at 17:13
$begingroup$
We know that there were flying dinosaurs weighting 145kg or more so there's no reason your dinosaur at 60 or 80kgs could not fly without using buoyancy.
$endgroup$
– Tim B♦
Jan 25 at 17:13
1
1
$begingroup$
@TimB pterosaurs are not dinosaurs, but that is a good low end mass estimate for Quetzalcoatlus. the largest flying dinosaur aka bird was around 70kg.
$endgroup$
– John
Jan 25 at 17:33
$begingroup$
@TimB pterosaurs are not dinosaurs, but that is a good low end mass estimate for Quetzalcoatlus. the largest flying dinosaur aka bird was around 70kg.
$endgroup$
– John
Jan 25 at 17:33
$begingroup$
There is a rather useful calculator here - omnicalculator.com/everyday-life/helium-balloons
$endgroup$
– chasly from UK
Jan 25 at 20:45
$begingroup$
There is a rather useful calculator here - omnicalculator.com/everyday-life/helium-balloons
$endgroup$
– chasly from UK
Jan 25 at 20:45
$begingroup$
This seems like a pure real-world physics question to me. Since we already have a site for those, I feel like this question should be migrated there.
$endgroup$
– Ilmari Karonen
Jan 25 at 21:11
$begingroup$
This seems like a pure real-world physics question to me. Since we already have a site for those, I feel like this question should be migrated there.
$endgroup$
– Ilmari Karonen
Jan 25 at 21:11
|
show 5 more comments
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
For a back-of-the-envelope calculation the rule of thumb is that you need one cubic meter (1000 liters) of hydrogen or helium to lift one kilogram; so for 80 kilograms you need about 80 cubic meters (80,000 liters) of lifting gas.
For a more detailed calculation:
The average density of air at sea level is about 1.2 kg/m³.
The density of helium at 1 atmosphere pressure and 0°C temperature (that's called "standard temperature and pressure", STP) is about 0.18 kg/m³.
The lifting force is the difference between the weight of a volume of helium and the same volume of air, or 1.02 kg/m³.
For 80 kg you need 80 / 1.02 = 78.4 m³ of helium.
For a quick comparison, that's quite comparable with the capacity of a large railroad tank wagon, and about 15% more than the internal volume of a standard 40-foot (12.2 meters) intermodal container:
A stack of standard 40-foot (12.2 meters) intermodal containers. Each container has an internal volume of about 68 cubic meters. Photograph by Martini171, available on Wikimedia under the CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported license.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I still doubt it would be able to fly if it had over 60kgs
Helium has a lifting force of one gram per liter. For a 60kg person or animal, you will therefore 60,000 liters. That is 15,850.323 gallons for americans.
The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about 60,000 liters is that it's the usual volume capacity for yhese trucks:
Also notice that flying this way may be very hard. Larry Walters comes to mind.
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
Thatsalottahelium....
$endgroup$
– JBH
Jan 25 at 17:22
add a comment |
$begingroup$
it would theoretically take 115920 cubic feet of helium to lig=ft 80 kilograms.
Because the difference in the up and downforce is 0.069 pounds. each cubic foot of helium could lift 0.069 pounds. In order to lift a single kilogram, you would need 1449 cubic feet of helium.
Now we have to transfer the cubic feet to liters.
1 cubic foot= 28 litres
115920x28
Theoretically, it would take 3245760 liters to lift 80 kilograms.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function ()
return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function ()
StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix)
StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
);
);
, "mathjax-editing");
StackExchange.ready(function()
var channelOptions =
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "579"
;
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
createEditor();
);
else
createEditor();
);
function createEditor()
StackExchange.prepareEditor(
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader:
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
,
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
);
);
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fworldbuilding.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f137715%2fhow-many-litres-of-gaseous-helium-would-it-take-to-lift-80-kg-on-earth%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
For a back-of-the-envelope calculation the rule of thumb is that you need one cubic meter (1000 liters) of hydrogen or helium to lift one kilogram; so for 80 kilograms you need about 80 cubic meters (80,000 liters) of lifting gas.
For a more detailed calculation:
The average density of air at sea level is about 1.2 kg/m³.
The density of helium at 1 atmosphere pressure and 0°C temperature (that's called "standard temperature and pressure", STP) is about 0.18 kg/m³.
The lifting force is the difference between the weight of a volume of helium and the same volume of air, or 1.02 kg/m³.
For 80 kg you need 80 / 1.02 = 78.4 m³ of helium.
For a quick comparison, that's quite comparable with the capacity of a large railroad tank wagon, and about 15% more than the internal volume of a standard 40-foot (12.2 meters) intermodal container:
A stack of standard 40-foot (12.2 meters) intermodal containers. Each container has an internal volume of about 68 cubic meters. Photograph by Martini171, available on Wikimedia under the CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported license.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
For a back-of-the-envelope calculation the rule of thumb is that you need one cubic meter (1000 liters) of hydrogen or helium to lift one kilogram; so for 80 kilograms you need about 80 cubic meters (80,000 liters) of lifting gas.
For a more detailed calculation:
The average density of air at sea level is about 1.2 kg/m³.
The density of helium at 1 atmosphere pressure and 0°C temperature (that's called "standard temperature and pressure", STP) is about 0.18 kg/m³.
The lifting force is the difference between the weight of a volume of helium and the same volume of air, or 1.02 kg/m³.
For 80 kg you need 80 / 1.02 = 78.4 m³ of helium.
For a quick comparison, that's quite comparable with the capacity of a large railroad tank wagon, and about 15% more than the internal volume of a standard 40-foot (12.2 meters) intermodal container:
A stack of standard 40-foot (12.2 meters) intermodal containers. Each container has an internal volume of about 68 cubic meters. Photograph by Martini171, available on Wikimedia under the CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported license.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
For a back-of-the-envelope calculation the rule of thumb is that you need one cubic meter (1000 liters) of hydrogen or helium to lift one kilogram; so for 80 kilograms you need about 80 cubic meters (80,000 liters) of lifting gas.
For a more detailed calculation:
The average density of air at sea level is about 1.2 kg/m³.
The density of helium at 1 atmosphere pressure and 0°C temperature (that's called "standard temperature and pressure", STP) is about 0.18 kg/m³.
The lifting force is the difference between the weight of a volume of helium and the same volume of air, or 1.02 kg/m³.
For 80 kg you need 80 / 1.02 = 78.4 m³ of helium.
For a quick comparison, that's quite comparable with the capacity of a large railroad tank wagon, and about 15% more than the internal volume of a standard 40-foot (12.2 meters) intermodal container:
A stack of standard 40-foot (12.2 meters) intermodal containers. Each container has an internal volume of about 68 cubic meters. Photograph by Martini171, available on Wikimedia under the CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported license.
$endgroup$
For a back-of-the-envelope calculation the rule of thumb is that you need one cubic meter (1000 liters) of hydrogen or helium to lift one kilogram; so for 80 kilograms you need about 80 cubic meters (80,000 liters) of lifting gas.
For a more detailed calculation:
The average density of air at sea level is about 1.2 kg/m³.
The density of helium at 1 atmosphere pressure and 0°C temperature (that's called "standard temperature and pressure", STP) is about 0.18 kg/m³.
The lifting force is the difference between the weight of a volume of helium and the same volume of air, or 1.02 kg/m³.
For 80 kg you need 80 / 1.02 = 78.4 m³ of helium.
For a quick comparison, that's quite comparable with the capacity of a large railroad tank wagon, and about 15% more than the internal volume of a standard 40-foot (12.2 meters) intermodal container:
A stack of standard 40-foot (12.2 meters) intermodal containers. Each container has an internal volume of about 68 cubic meters. Photograph by Martini171, available on Wikimedia under the CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported license.
edited Jan 25 at 22:06
answered Jan 25 at 17:18
AlexPAlexP
38.2k787149
38.2k787149
add a comment |
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I still doubt it would be able to fly if it had over 60kgs
Helium has a lifting force of one gram per liter. For a 60kg person or animal, you will therefore 60,000 liters. That is 15,850.323 gallons for americans.
The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about 60,000 liters is that it's the usual volume capacity for yhese trucks:
Also notice that flying this way may be very hard. Larry Walters comes to mind.
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
Thatsalottahelium....
$endgroup$
– JBH
Jan 25 at 17:22
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I still doubt it would be able to fly if it had over 60kgs
Helium has a lifting force of one gram per liter. For a 60kg person or animal, you will therefore 60,000 liters. That is 15,850.323 gallons for americans.
The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about 60,000 liters is that it's the usual volume capacity for yhese trucks:
Also notice that flying this way may be very hard. Larry Walters comes to mind.
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
Thatsalottahelium....
$endgroup$
– JBH
Jan 25 at 17:22
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I still doubt it would be able to fly if it had over 60kgs
Helium has a lifting force of one gram per liter. For a 60kg person or animal, you will therefore 60,000 liters. That is 15,850.323 gallons for americans.
The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about 60,000 liters is that it's the usual volume capacity for yhese trucks:
Also notice that flying this way may be very hard. Larry Walters comes to mind.
$endgroup$
I still doubt it would be able to fly if it had over 60kgs
Helium has a lifting force of one gram per liter. For a 60kg person or animal, you will therefore 60,000 liters. That is 15,850.323 gallons for americans.
The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about 60,000 liters is that it's the usual volume capacity for yhese trucks:
Also notice that flying this way may be very hard. Larry Walters comes to mind.
edited Jan 25 at 17:14
answered Jan 25 at 17:06
RenanRenan
48.1k13111245
48.1k13111245
1
$begingroup$
Thatsalottahelium....
$endgroup$
– JBH
Jan 25 at 17:22
add a comment |
1
$begingroup$
Thatsalottahelium....
$endgroup$
– JBH
Jan 25 at 17:22
1
1
$begingroup$
Thatsalottahelium....
$endgroup$
– JBH
Jan 25 at 17:22
$begingroup$
Thatsalottahelium....
$endgroup$
– JBH
Jan 25 at 17:22
add a comment |
$begingroup$
it would theoretically take 115920 cubic feet of helium to lig=ft 80 kilograms.
Because the difference in the up and downforce is 0.069 pounds. each cubic foot of helium could lift 0.069 pounds. In order to lift a single kilogram, you would need 1449 cubic feet of helium.
Now we have to transfer the cubic feet to liters.
1 cubic foot= 28 litres
115920x28
Theoretically, it would take 3245760 liters to lift 80 kilograms.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
it would theoretically take 115920 cubic feet of helium to lig=ft 80 kilograms.
Because the difference in the up and downforce is 0.069 pounds. each cubic foot of helium could lift 0.069 pounds. In order to lift a single kilogram, you would need 1449 cubic feet of helium.
Now we have to transfer the cubic feet to liters.
1 cubic foot= 28 litres
115920x28
Theoretically, it would take 3245760 liters to lift 80 kilograms.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
it would theoretically take 115920 cubic feet of helium to lig=ft 80 kilograms.
Because the difference in the up and downforce is 0.069 pounds. each cubic foot of helium could lift 0.069 pounds. In order to lift a single kilogram, you would need 1449 cubic feet of helium.
Now we have to transfer the cubic feet to liters.
1 cubic foot= 28 litres
115920x28
Theoretically, it would take 3245760 liters to lift 80 kilograms.
$endgroup$
it would theoretically take 115920 cubic feet of helium to lig=ft 80 kilograms.
Because the difference in the up and downforce is 0.069 pounds. each cubic foot of helium could lift 0.069 pounds. In order to lift a single kilogram, you would need 1449 cubic feet of helium.
Now we have to transfer the cubic feet to liters.
1 cubic foot= 28 litres
115920x28
Theoretically, it would take 3245760 liters to lift 80 kilograms.
answered Jan 25 at 23:15
Rowyn AllowayRowyn Alloway
6321216
6321216
add a comment |
add a comment |
Thanks for contributing an answer to Worldbuilding Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fworldbuilding.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f137715%2fhow-many-litres-of-gaseous-helium-would-it-take-to-lift-80-kg-on-earth%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
$begingroup$
Welcome to Worldbuilding! If you have a moment, please take the tour and visit the help center to learn more about the site. You may also find Worldbuilding Meta and The Sandbox useful. Here is a meta post on the culture and style of Worldbuilding.SE, just to help you understand our scope and methods, and how we do things here. Have fun!
$endgroup$
– Gryphon
Jan 25 at 17:06
5
$begingroup$
We know that there were flying dinosaurs weighting 145kg or more so there's no reason your dinosaur at 60 or 80kgs could not fly without using buoyancy.
$endgroup$
– Tim B♦
Jan 25 at 17:13
1
$begingroup$
@TimB pterosaurs are not dinosaurs, but that is a good low end mass estimate for Quetzalcoatlus. the largest flying dinosaur aka bird was around 70kg.
$endgroup$
– John
Jan 25 at 17:33
$begingroup$
There is a rather useful calculator here - omnicalculator.com/everyday-life/helium-balloons
$endgroup$
– chasly from UK
Jan 25 at 20:45
$begingroup$
This seems like a pure real-world physics question to me. Since we already have a site for those, I feel like this question should be migrated there.
$endgroup$
– Ilmari Karonen
Jan 25 at 21:11