|
K smart guys, here's a question....
|
View this Thread in Original format
| Lumps |
If you have a balloon filled with helium, why does it tilt forward when you accelerate, tilt backwards when you brake, and tilt right when you make a sharp right and vice versa, when any other object (say an ornament hanging from your rear view mirror) will do the opposite?
If you accelerate hard going forwards your body gets locked into the seat, but the balloon with helium will not get pushed back, rather it will get pushed forward. Why is this?
Only reason I bring this up is because I had a helium balloon in my car today, and it kind of tripped me out. |
|
|
| Omegasox |
| Due to the same reasoning behind it floating when everyone else is falling? I know that's not exactly technical and specific, but makes sense to me. |
|
|
| Lumps |
| No, you don't get it... If you have a little disco ball (or whatever!) hanging from your mirror and you make a quick stop, the ball will get pushed toward your windshield (inertia), but the helium filled balloon with get push toward the BACK window. The total opposite. |
|
|
| NiteKiD |
maybe since it is lighter than air the air displacement of the turns/stops causes the baloon to get pushed in the opposite way
...if air DOES get displaced...idunno
*shrug* i tried |
|
|
| DrUg_Tit0 |
| Because inertial forces in the car act upon the air in it as well. When the car suddenly stops, the air in it tries to go to the front, and as a result it pushes the helium filled baloon to the back. The same thing happens when you stop the car and an object of higher density (take yourself for example) flies forward, while pushing some air to the back. |
|
|
| Flyboy217 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Omegasox
Due to the same reasoning behind it floating when everyone else is falling? I know that's not exactly technical and specific, but makes sense to me. |
Exactly correct! Gravity is simply an acceleration. While the car is accelerating, the denser air surrounding the baloon moves toward the rear of the car, causing the pressure gradient to be positive from front to back. This causes the baloon to float forward. It's similar to how air is more dense lower in the atmosphere than higher (thanks to the weight of the air above it), causing baloons to rise.
But all the dry physics in the world can't save you from that satanic balloon going the wrong way. I'd just straight bust a cap in that ish... |
|
|
|
|
