# How much helium to lift 6 year old boy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 15, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-helium-to-lift-6-year-old-boy/513947 "2009-10-15T20:05:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-helium-to-lift-6-year-old-boy/513947/41 "2009-10-18T01:43:55Z")
No, the lifting power _was not_ 80lbs. Not at all. Whoever “calculated” that was full of crap and incompetent. An “oblate spheroid” 20 feet wide and 5 feet high full of _pure_ helium lifts 65 lbs. That’s physics. And the saucer in question wasn’t even a pure oblate spheroid but further modified so that it would have even _less_ volume. On top of which, no competent professor of any sort capable of making that calculation would be able to state with confidence what the "payload’ of such a balloon would be without knowing the empty weight of the structure. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-helium-to-lift-6-year-old-boy/513947/42 "2009-10-18T18:01:46Z")
the NYT weighs in from The Week In Review section: > [@](#): > > [Prime Number: .064](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/16/weekinreview/18primenumber.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=.064&st=cse) > > The weight in pounds (about an ounce) that one cubic foot of helium can lift, at sea level. > > \ > > The flying-saucer-shaped balloon built by Falcon’s father was described by CNN as 20 feet wide and 5 feet high. If you approximate its shape as a squashed sphere, the balloon would have had a volume of about 1,050 cubic feet. Multiply that by 0.064 pounds per cubic foot of helium, and the balloon, fully inflated, might have had a lifting force of about 67 pounds. > > The boy weighed about 37 pounds, according to The Associated Press, so at first glance it appears plausible that Falcon could have been inside. They also add that you need to take into account the weight of the balloon and the compartment as well as the lower density of air in that part of CO. Plus, they note that even if it could lift him, there would have been a noticeable distortion of the balloon’s shape due to the weight pulling down on the inflated part. ---
**Author:** ![phmurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4491bb/32.png) [@phmurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phmurphy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-helium-to-lift-6-year-old-boy/513947/43 "2009-10-18T22:32:12Z")
Ok, Here is my theory. When you build a balloon like that, the urge to release it is irresistable but probably illegal. So how do you release it, don’t tell anybody and just do it where nobody can see. If you build it in your yard and everybody knows about it, the only way to release it it to make it appear an accident. Then to get everyone to forgive you, make it seem like a hysterical mistake. As I write this I am listening to the Sunday evening news and they are now being prosecuted for the hoax. I guess my theory was an minute too late. ---
**Author:** ![phmurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4491bb/32.png) [@phmurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phmurphy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-helium-to-lift-6-year-old-boy/513947/44 "2009-10-19T01:44:46Z")
Poor Falcon Heene. He not only will be known as the balloon boy forever, but maybe Felon Heene will stick too. Dad needs to spend a little quite time with grownups (jail), so does Falcon. Not in jail, just with real grownups. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-helium-to-lift-6-year-old-boy/513947/45 "2009-10-19T18:09:06Z")
It turns out it’s not the helium that drove this event, but the hot air. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-helium-to-lift-6-year-old-boy/513947.md?page=2)