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Reply	Anonymous says: in space , unless the material of the ballon was very strong, it would probably burst. Balloons filled with helium only float in our atmosphere because the average density of the gas and the balloon itself is less than that of the atmosphere around it. An easy way to show this is to try and put a blown up balloon underwater- the density of the water forces the balloon to rise to the surface. If the balloon didn't burst then it would sit there until something external inteacted with it  (no votes) Tags: technology, unanswered, domestic science, planet earth.
	posted on 2007-11-29 15:14:00 | Report abuse

Reply	Anonymous says: If you filled it up with any gas it would probably explode as well! Gases expand to fill any available space and vacuum has a lot of empty space :)  (no votes) Tags: technology, unanswered, domestic science, planet earth.
	posted on 2007-11-29 15:50:00 | Report abuse

Reply	Chris says: A balloon expands to a certain level until the gas inside it is at an equal level of pressure with the gas outside, E.G: There are the same number of atoms bouncing off the inside of the balloon as there are bouncing off the outside, forming a balance of forces. In space, there is so little matter (Thus it being known as a vacuum) that the pressure exerted on the balloon from the outside would be zero, or tend to infinity to that effect. This means that the balloon would expand until the limit of the containing material, and then burst, unless this was a thought experiment with a material of infinite elasticity and toughness, in which case it would expand to occupy an incalculably large area.  (no votes) Tags: technology, unanswered, domestic science, planet earth.
	posted on 2007-11-29 16:39:00 | Report abuse

Reply	Brad says: Im no expert but I think It would float around like everything else- until it gets hit with a micro meteroite in which case it would slowly leak like a bucket of water shot with a BB gun.  (no votes) Tags: technology, unanswered, domestic science, planet earth.
	posted on 2007-11-29 16:42:00 | Report abuse

Reply	Matthew says: Assuming that the balloon is not very flexible, but more like a hot air balloon and completely sealed, then if the balloon is strong enough to be pressurised to twice atmospheric pressure at sea level, then it would be able to contain helium pressurised to one atmosphere of pressure in space, and wouldn't fail. If you released the balloon at, say, the International Space Station, then the balloon would simply drift away slowly with some small initial velocity like any other satellite However if you held it at a position directly above a point on the earth's surface and it was below the height of geostationary orbit (but above any significant amount of atmospheric gas), it would fall towards earth and when it approached the atmosphere it would either burn up, carry on until it hit the ground/sea, or slow down until the buoyancy of the air is enough to decelerate the balloon to rest and then it would float back up to its natural equilibrium height.If you released it at a height greater than geostationary orbit, at the same position above the earth, it would fly off into space.  (no votes) Tags: technology, unanswered, domestic science, planet earth.
	posted on 2007-11-29 17:10:00 | Report abuse

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