How many helium balloons does it take to lift an orangutan?
About 8,000 balloonsAn orangutan weighs 80 kg, and each balloon lifts about 10 g.
It takes about 8,000 balloons.
How we worked it out
An orangutan weighs 80 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 #40. 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 #40Play today’s experiments
More balloons questions
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift a person? About 6,200.
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift a white-tailed deer? About 6,400.
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift a sheep? About 6,400.
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift a fridge? About 6,800.
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift a red kangaroo? About 7,200.
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift a washing machine? About 7,200.
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift a black bear? About 11,000.
- How many helium balloons does it take to lift a llama? About 15,000.