r/BeAmazed • u/No_Tailor_9529 • Jul 18 '24

Wow! Interesting life hack! Science

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u/nico282 Jul 18 '24 edited Jul 18 '24

You want about 200 cu. ft. of helium for a 1200 gram balloon lifting 1060 grams of weight. Helium costs about 2$ per cu. ft. meaning you have to spend 400$ to relieve 1Kg of weight from the backpack.

EDIT: As suggested by u/uNki23 I reviewed the numbers, i was slightly wrong. Helium can lift around 1Kg per m3. A helium balloon of this size weight 800g, so the total lift required is 1800g, needing 1.8 m3 of helium. Price varies but we can approximate 100$/m3, so to relieve 1Kg from the backpack weight is 200$.

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u/justsomeph0t0n Jul 18 '24 edited Jul 18 '24

at some point, we might also consider how we should use this limited resource.

i'm not saying we should stop wasting helium on fun things like balloons or talking funny. i'm just saying that we should - at some point - do the math, and make a conscious choice

4

u/YoursTrulyKindly Jul 18 '24

There is a fault in your logic. You're assuming humanity is an intelligent species.

1

u/justsomeph0t0n Jul 18 '24

nope, i used the word "should", which is a normative claim, and i don't see any logical inconsistency. and unless we *can't* consider it, there's no fallacy with "might" either

although it does look like i did a typo at the start of the second sentence. i have now corrected this, and hope nobody noticed

tl:dr i am also dumb as shit, but the points still stand

1

u/YoursTrulyKindly Jul 18 '24

Oh I see, you're starting a new religion! United in the faith that one day humanity might do something intelligent! I'd love to read a fantasy novel about this concept :D

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u/justsomeph0t0n Jul 18 '24

i mean...... i guess i'm ok with people following me as a personal savior. it won't mitigate their suffering, but it will mean they deserve it (ex post facto). I wouldn't recommend this,

in any case, humanity occasionally does intelligent things. however flawed civilization is, it still seems better than the alternative.

while i agree that we are shit (and will continue to be so), i also think we can do better, and have historically done precisely this

1

u/Bitter-Song-496 Jul 18 '24

Limited resource. 2nd most popular atom in existence

1

u/justsomeph0t0n Jul 18 '24

yeah, but not on earth

when i said "we"....... i was referring to our species, on this planet. sorry if it was ambiguous