Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

The weight of helium

San Diego Welders Supply, 25th and Market, gives the answer

Is your head a little lighter? - Image by Rick Geary
Is your head a little lighter?

Dear Matt: Does an empty tank of helium weigh more than a full one? Tanks. — Vik, La Mesa

Sponsored
Sponsored

Now that you’ve gotten that weighty question off your mind, is your head a little lighter? I’ll admit I’m kinda woozy after reading it. If I get your updraft, you’re guessing that one of those helium-balloon-fill-’em-up tanks weighs more once all the helium is used up than it did when it was full — that a certain volume of helium (light stuff) has been replaced by our grubby atmosphere (heavier stuff). Seductive logic, Vik.

To solve this one, the entire M.A. staff packed lunch boxes, stuck on those gummy name tags, got on a big yellow bus, and took a field trip. We’d barely had time to get to “85 bottles of beer on the wall” before we pulled into the lot at San Diego Welders Supply, 25th and Market, where, if you don’t already have gas, they’ll give it to you. Or sell it to you, anyway.

Once we’d piled out and lined up according to height, Bob, our tour guide, obligingly hauled out a petite-size helium tank and put it on the scale. The cast-iron cylinder was about 15 inches high, maybe 5 or 6 inches in diameter, and contained 22 cubic feet of helium under pressure of about 2000 psi. Full weight: 9.61 pounds. For the next three minutes or so, we talked in goofy cartoon-character voices as Bob drained the tank. Empty weight: 9.46 pounds. Bob took a bow, we all clapped. Then the whole SDWS staff lined up on the loading dock to wave goodbye as we linked hands and crossed the street to Golden Hill Liquor to buy a case of beer and some chips for the ride home.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Southern California Asks: 'What Is Vinivia?' Meet the New Creator-First Livestreaming App

Is your head a little lighter? - Image by Rick Geary
Is your head a little lighter?

Dear Matt: Does an empty tank of helium weigh more than a full one? Tanks. — Vik, La Mesa

Sponsored
Sponsored

Now that you’ve gotten that weighty question off your mind, is your head a little lighter? I’ll admit I’m kinda woozy after reading it. If I get your updraft, you’re guessing that one of those helium-balloon-fill-’em-up tanks weighs more once all the helium is used up than it did when it was full — that a certain volume of helium (light stuff) has been replaced by our grubby atmosphere (heavier stuff). Seductive logic, Vik.

To solve this one, the entire M.A. staff packed lunch boxes, stuck on those gummy name tags, got on a big yellow bus, and took a field trip. We’d barely had time to get to “85 bottles of beer on the wall” before we pulled into the lot at San Diego Welders Supply, 25th and Market, where, if you don’t already have gas, they’ll give it to you. Or sell it to you, anyway.

Once we’d piled out and lined up according to height, Bob, our tour guide, obligingly hauled out a petite-size helium tank and put it on the scale. The cast-iron cylinder was about 15 inches high, maybe 5 or 6 inches in diameter, and contained 22 cubic feet of helium under pressure of about 2000 psi. Full weight: 9.61 pounds. For the next three minutes or so, we talked in goofy cartoon-character voices as Bob drained the tank. Empty weight: 9.46 pounds. Bob took a bow, we all clapped. Then the whole SDWS staff lined up on the loading dock to wave goodbye as we linked hands and crossed the street to Golden Hill Liquor to buy a case of beer and some chips for the ride home.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Live Five: Sitting On Stacy, Matte Blvck, Think X, Hendrix Celebration, Coriander

Alt-ska, dark electro-pop, tributes, and coastal rock in Solana Beach, Little Italy, Pacific Beach
Next Article

NORTH COUNTY’S BEST PERSONAL TRAINER: NICOLE HANSULT HELPING YOU FEEL STRONG, CONFIDENT, AND VIBRANT AT ANY AGE

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader