Welcome! This is a website that everyone can build together. It's easy!

Lead Balloon



Calling all MythBusters fans!
Click EasyEdit to help build the uber-guide to myths!

Don't see the EasyEdit button above? Sign in or sign up.
New to wikis? Visit the Help section for tips on getting started.


The Myth

THIS MYTH WAS FEATURED IN...
Episode Title: Lead Balloon (#96)

Original air date: Jan. 23, 2008
Myth Title: Lead Balloon


Myth Description: The Mythbusters test the idiom of "going over like a lead balloon" by building it & seeing whether or not it can fly.


MythBusters on the bust: Adam Savage, Jaime Hyneman


Hypothesis: A large balloon made with foil-thin lead & filled with helium can overcome its own weight and rise.


Procedure/Experimental Design: Small scale tested with aluminum foil & helium. Adam made an icosahedron (20 sided made with equilateral triangles) balloon. Jaime made a spherical balloon by creating two hemispheres with adjacent isosceles triangles.

Afterwards, they acquired lead foil and made a small scale lead balloon with 2 sheets of lead foil & inflated with helium.

Next, Adam designs a cube-shaped balloon that will unfold as it fills with a helium/air mix so that it's little "hands-on" with the brittle lead foil.

Adam & Jaime head to the Alameda Naval Base to build & test the balloon.


Results: Although the lead foil was very brittle and needed many repairs during inflation, the balloon DID rise and stay in the air.


Conclusion: An extremely unlikely & impractical scenario to repeat, it was accomplished.


Busted or Not Busted: Busted
Fan Feedback

Highlights of the bust:

  • That unfolding cube was phenomenal.
  • My hat is all the way off to Adam for a most awesome feat of very delicate origami.



Best quotes by the MythBusters:






Your Scientific Method

Did the MythBusters get it right? How would you have busted this myth differently? Share your experiment design for how you would prove/disprove this myth:
See Also

Related myths: Helium Raft

Related resources and reference pages: ----




Threads

Anonymous  (Get credit for your thread)
Started By Thread Subject Replies Last Post
dupeduperson my analysis of the lead balloon 1 Jul 24 2008, 10:44 AM EDT by dupeduperson
Thread started: Jul 24 2008, 10:43 AM EDT  Watch
Here is my analysis. http://www.dotphys.net/files/lead_balloon.html Really, I wanted to find the minimum dimensions of the lead balloon that would still float (given the same thickness of lead the mythbusters used).
Show Last Reply
ramdomjerk Helium balloon ≠ Lead Balloon 1 Mar 10 2008, 7:56 PM EDT by nickslate09
Thread started: Jan 28 2008, 1:20 PM EST  Watch
Balloons are defined by their fillings. That wasn't a lead balloon as it wasn't filled with lead, but Helium. Duh, helium balloons float in air.
10  out of 29 found this valuable. Do you?    
Keyword tags: helium lead nitpicker random jerk scotch tape
Show Last Reply

Related Content

  (what's this?Related ContentThanks to keyword tags, links to related pages and threads are added to the bottom of your pages. Up to 15 links are shown, determined by matching tags and by how recently the content was updated; keeping the most current at the top. Share your feedback on Wetpaint Central.)
Hot Chili Cure Fan Death new quote
mcgyver myth episode Real-Life Steam-Powered Machine Gun FOUND! dear adam
curving a bullet William from Bartow County, Georgia Cable Myth
Please settle a dispute! Keeping the Car Cool myth - even more questions! Ancient weapons myth