Problem 14.8: Hot-air balloon flight
Please wait for the animation to completely load.
As the air inside a hot-air balloon is heated, the density of the air inside the balloon decreases and the balloon expands (see Chapter 20 and the Kinetic Theory and Ideal Gas Law Illustrations for a detailed explanation). The animation shows a hot-air balloon ascending with constant acceleration (position is given in meters and time is given in seconds). If the balloon fabric and basket have a combined mass of 300 kg, what is the density of the air inside the balloon? (Neglect the volume of the basket). The density of the air outside the balloon is 1.3 kg/m3. Restart.
Problem authored by Anne J. Cox.
Physlets were developed at Davidson College and converted from Java to JavaScript using the SwingJS system developed at St. Olaf College.
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