Question

You are trying to determine the volume of the balloon needed to match the density of the air in the lab. You know that if you can get the balloon's density below this value, it will float. You measure both the temperature in the room as well as the mass of the balloon you will use and find they are 20.0°C and 0.570 grams, respectively. What volume of balloon will generate a density equal to that of the air around it? (Hint: Use the relationship you calculated above to determine the air density at the temperature given)

Answer 1

To solve this problem, we must be given first the density of air at 20 degrees Celsius. Looking up online, this is equal to:

density air (20C) = 0.0012041 g/mL

so that the volume is:

volume balloon = 0.57 g / (0.0012041 g/mL)

volume balloon = 473.38 mL