How many helium balloons does it take to lift a bowling ball?
About 730 balloonsA bowling ball weighs 7.26 kg, and each balloon lifts about 10 g.
It takes about 730 balloons.
How we worked it out
A bowling ball weighs 7.26 kg, 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 #42. 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 #42Play today’s experiments
More balloons questions
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift a cat? About 450.
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift a bald eagle? About 520.
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift the World Cup trophy? About 620.
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift a red fox? About 650.
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift a car tire? About 860.
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift a watermelon? About 910.
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift a swan? About 1,100.
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift a gold bar? About 1,200.