Question: what happens to helium balloons when they are released into the sky?

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Answer #1:

the pressure makes them burst or the gas escapes

Answer #2:

They find their way home to the great balloon gathering in the sky.

Answer #3:

It depends what material they're made of, if they're pretty tough they can get into space. Actually on one of the Apollo missions on the 1970s, where they went to the moon, they found one of the really tough balloons that had been released some years before. Apparently after it left the Earth's atmosphere it got caught by the Moon's gravity, the helium was leaking out so it basically fell to the surface of the Moon and they found it and brought it back. It's actually in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC if you want to go see it. Pretty interesting!

Answer #4:

Balloon stops rising after some height when the density of the gas inside the balloon becomes equal to the atmospheric density and it simply float or rides the air currents.
IVAN

Answer #5:

They burst after a while, when the pressure gets too high for the material they are made from to cope. This is because the helium inside expands as the outside pressure reduces with altitude. Most party balloons will only manage a few km upwards as they are made from a fairly weak material, but there are some larger balloons especially designed for high altitude which can get to a hight of 30km or more.

Answer #6:

In theory the idea is they just stop rising, they will eventually hit a level int the atmosphere where the density inside the ballon matches the density outside the balloon... However, at some point up in the atmosphere regular old balloons pop, mainly because without the pressure of the atmosphere pushing in on the balloon the inside pressure becomes too much for the balloons... Thus they expand and burst...

Answer #7:

If you were to type in the appropriate key words in the Search Y! Answers box, you would find many answers to this same question. However, the common denominator is thus: As the balloon ascends, the atmospheric pressure drops, which causes the balloon to expand to a point approximately five miles high to burst into small shreds, which flutter back down to the ground and rot away at the same rate as an Oak leaf. The helium will continue to rise and escapes off into space





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