Serway & Jewett — Fluid Mechanics: Problem 19

You have a job in a company that produces party supplies. You are designing helium-filled balloons to be sold as gifts. To save money on production costs, part of this design is to choose from an available selection the least massive token necessary to be tied to the lower end of the string hanging from the balloon in order to keep the balloon from rising off a table, hospital food tray, bedroom dresser, etc. In this way, the token remains stationary on the flat surface and the balloon is buoyed above the token at a fixed height, with the string straight. You are working on a balloon whose envelope is very thin and has a mass of 0.150 kg. The envelope is filled to a volume of 0.2300 m³ with helium at atmospheric pressure. The string has a mass of 0.070 0 kg. Among the selection of tokens are those with masses 10.0 g, 20.0 g, 30.0 g, 40.0 g, and 50.0 g. Choose the appropriate token for the balloon you are working on.