What happens to helium balloons when they float into the sky?
– Science Tricks – Surfing Scientist – The Lab [This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/science/surfingscientist/heliumballoons.htm] Cracker question because helium balloons are actually a pretty controversial topic. Some people argue that they are harmful to the environment because on returning to Earth, animals mistake them for food, eat them, and die. Now for this to happen, the balloons would have to come back down in fairly large chunks. These chunks would then have to either block the animal’s airways and choke them, or become lodged in their digestive system causing a fatal illness. Neither of these outcomes sounds very nice for animals so it’s worth investigating more. First of all, we’d better look at how balloons are released. When helium filled balloons are handed out at public events, they usually come with a piece of string or ribbon attached. The attachment is either tied into the knot, or secured with a plastic disk. Either way, if these balloons are acc
