A small helium tank measures about two feet (60 cm) high. Yet it can fill over 50 balloons! How can such a small tank contain enough helium to fill so many balloons?

Question

Kaydence Anderson

Chemistry

30 March, 22:25

A small helium tank measures about two feet (60 cm) high. Yet it can fill over 50 balloons! How can such a small tank contain enough helium to fill so many balloons?

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Bethany Stark · Answer 1

Gases have very unique property, they fill up and take up the shape of any medium they find themselves in.

They expand out in all directions indefinitely. Their particles are random and lack no internal attraction.

Based on this, they can fill up as many balloons as possible. The volume of the tank where they are initially contained is not the real volume of the gas. It is just the volume of the container. If this gas is at very high pressure, they can fill as much as 50 more balloons because they have been compressed. Pressure most times determines the volume of gases.