How many helium balloons does it take to lift a basketball?
About 62 balloonsA basketball weighs 620 g, and each balloon lifts about 10 g.
It takes about 62 balloons.
How we worked it out
A basketball weighs 620 g, and each balloon lifts about 10 g. Standard 11-inch party balloons at sea level, about 10 g of lift each. Real life adds a little friction and waste, so treat the number as a solid ballpark rather than a lab result. The constants behind every experiment are on the science page.
Watch it happen
This was one of the five experiments in It Took #18. In the game you guess first, then the experiment plays out with your number: too few and it fails, too many and it overshoots.
Play It Took #18Play today’s experiments
More balloons questions
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift an African grey parrot? About 41.
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift an American football? About 41.
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift a soccer ball? About 43.
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift a boxing glove? About 45.
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift a violin? About 45.
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift an umbrella? About 67.
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift a hedgehog? About 80.
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift a liter of water? About 100.