"What happens to balloons that fly"
After a helium-filled balloon is released, it rises through the atmosphere at a
little under two metres per second. Both atmospheric pressure and temperature
drop as altitude increases.
The balloon rises to a height of about 28,000 feet (about 8.4 kilometres) over a
period of about 90 minutes. At that altitude the temperature is about 40
degrees C below zero and the balloon has expanded to reach its elastic limit. A
27-centimetre balloon elongates, on average, to about 700% of its original,
uninflated, size before bursting.
Under these high altitude conditions, the balloon actually shatters and
undergoes what is called a "brittle fracture". The resulting pieces of rubber
are about the size of a ten or twenty-cent piece and these float back to earth
and are scatted over a wide area.
The vast majority of balloons will have this fate.
http://www.balloonartists.com.au/environment.htm
posted by w@wie Sis Ma-Lyn
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