How many litres of gaseous helium would it take to lift 80kgs on Earth?
$begingroup$
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 60kgs. 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
edited 1 hour ago
Cyn
6,15411035
asked 5 hours ago
Alright itsCROAlright itsCRO
142
New contributor
Alright itsCRO is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
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 60kgs. 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
edited 1 hour ago
Cyn
6,15411035
asked 5 hours ago
Alright itsCROAlright itsCRO
142
New contributor
Alright itsCRO is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
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
5 hours ago
2
$begingroup$
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♦
5 hours ago
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
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
There is a rather useful calculator here - omnicalculator.com/everyday-life/helium-balloons
$endgroup$
– chasly from UK
1 hour ago
$begingroup$
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
1 hour ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
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 60kgs. 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
edited 1 hour ago
Cyn
6,15411035
asked 5 hours ago
Alright itsCROAlright itsCRO
142
New contributor
Alright itsCRO is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
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 60kgs. 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 1 hour ago
Cyn
6,15411035
asked 5 hours ago
Alright itsCROAlright itsCRO
142
New contributor
Alright itsCRO is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 1 hour ago
Cyn
6,15411035
asked 5 hours ago
Alright itsCROAlright itsCRO
142
New contributor
Alright itsCRO is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 1 hour ago
Cyn
6,15411035
edited 1 hour ago
Cyn
6,15411035
edited 1 hour ago
Cyn
6,15411035
6,15411035
asked 5 hours ago
Alright itsCROAlright itsCRO
142
New contributor
Alright itsCRO is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 5 hours ago
Alright itsCROAlright itsCRO
142
asked 5 hours ago
Alright itsCROAlright itsCRO
142
142
New contributor
Alright itsCRO is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Alright itsCRO is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Alright itsCRO is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$begingroup$
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
5 hours ago
2
$begingroup$
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♦
5 hours ago
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
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
There is a rather useful calculator here - omnicalculator.com/everyday-life/helium-balloons
$endgroup$
– chasly from UK
1 hour ago
$begingroup$
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
1 hour ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
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
5 hours ago
2
$begingroup$
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♦
5 hours ago
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
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
There is a rather useful calculator here - omnicalculator.com/everyday-life/helium-balloons
$endgroup$
– chasly from UK
1 hour ago
$begingroup$
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
1 hour ago
$begingroup$
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
5 hours ago
$begingroup$
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
5 hours ago
2
2
$begingroup$
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♦
5 hours ago
$begingroup$
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♦
5 hours ago
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
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
@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
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
There is a rather useful calculator here - omnicalculator.com/everyday-life/helium-balloons
$endgroup$
– chasly from UK
1 hour ago
$begingroup$
There is a rather useful calculator here - omnicalculator.com/everyday-life/helium-balloons
$endgroup$
– chasly from UK
1 hour ago
$begingroup$
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
1 hour ago
$begingroup$
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
1 hour ago
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
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.
answered 4 hours ago
AlexPAlexP
36.6k783141
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
@Deduplicator: I am ashamed.
$endgroup$
– AlexP
12 mins ago
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.
answered 5 hours ago
RenanRenan
47.1k12110239
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
Thatsalottahelium....
$endgroup$
– JBH
4 hours ago
add a comment |
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2 Answers
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2 Answers
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active
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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.
answered 4 hours ago
AlexPAlexP
36.6k783141
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
@Deduplicator: I am ashamed.
$endgroup$
– AlexP
12 mins ago
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.
answered 4 hours ago
AlexPAlexP
36.6k783141
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
@Deduplicator: I am ashamed.
$endgroup$
– AlexP
12 mins ago
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.
answered 4 hours ago
AlexPAlexP
36.6k783141
$endgroup$
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.
answered 4 hours ago
AlexPAlexP
36.6k783141
edited 11 mins ago
answered 4 hours ago
AlexPAlexP
36.6k783141
answered 4 hours ago
AlexPAlexP
36.6k783141
answered 4 hours ago
AlexPAlexP
36.6k783141
36.6k783141
$begingroup$
@Deduplicator: I am ashamed.
$endgroup$
– AlexP
12 mins ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
@Deduplicator: I am ashamed.
$endgroup$
– AlexP
12 mins ago
$begingroup$
@Deduplicator: I am ashamed.
$endgroup$
– AlexP
12 mins ago
$begingroup$
@Deduplicator: I am ashamed.
$endgroup$
– AlexP
12 mins ago
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.
answered 5 hours ago
RenanRenan
47.1k12110239
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
Thatsalottahelium....
$endgroup$
– JBH
4 hours ago
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.
answered 5 hours ago
RenanRenan
47.1k12110239
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
Thatsalottahelium....
$endgroup$
– JBH
4 hours ago
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.
answered 5 hours ago
RenanRenan
47.1k12110239
$endgroup$
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.
answered 5 hours ago
RenanRenan
47.1k12110239
edited 5 hours ago
answered 5 hours ago
RenanRenan
47.1k12110239
answered 5 hours ago
RenanRenan
47.1k12110239
answered 5 hours ago
RenanRenan
47.1k12110239
47.1k12110239
$begingroup$
Thatsalottahelium....
$endgroup$
– JBH
4 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Thatsalottahelium....
$endgroup$
– JBH
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
Thatsalottahelium....
$endgroup$
– JBH
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
Thatsalottahelium....
$endgroup$
– JBH
4 hours ago
add a comment |
Alright itsCRO is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Alright itsCRO is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Alright itsCRO is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Alright itsCRO is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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$begingroup$
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
5 hours ago
2
$begingroup$
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♦
5 hours ago
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
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
There is a rather useful calculator here - omnicalculator.com/everyday-life/helium-balloons
$endgroup$
– chasly from UK
1 hour ago
$begingroup$
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
1 hour ago