Calculating Mass Needed to Ground Hot Air Balloon

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around calculating the additional mass required for a hot air balloon to remain grounded while considering the buoyancy force and the total load of the balloon. The problem involves understanding the forces acting on the balloon, including gravitational and buoyant forces, in the context of fluid dynamics and thermodynamics.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the need for the forces acting on the balloon to sum to zero for it to remain grounded. There is an exploration of the gravitational force acting on the total mass and the buoyancy force due to the density difference between the air inside and outside the balloon.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants questioning the correct approach to account for the buoyancy force in their calculations. Some attempts to set up equations are made, but there is no consensus on the correct method yet.

Contextual Notes

Participants note that the total mass includes both the load and the mass of the hot air, and there is an emphasis on ensuring all forces are balanced for the balloon to stay on the ground.

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Homework Statement



A good estimate for the volume of a particular hot air balloon is 2800 m3. Suppose the total load (passengers, fuel, balloon fabric, etc.) on a hot air balloon is 724 kg. In preparing to launch, the pilot heats the air inside to an average temperature of 210 oC, giving it a density of 0.95 kg/m3 (compared to a density of 1.2 kg/m3 for the air outside the balloon). [Note! This means that the total mass of the hot air balloon is 724 kg plus the mass of the hot air in the balloon!]

How much extra mass does the pilot need to keep in the basket in order to stay on the ground while all passengers are on board?

Homework Equations





The Attempt at a Solution



I'm really lost here. Any help would be great.
 
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well so you want the balloon to stay on the ground, in other words: zero velocity

this means that all the forces acting on the balloon need to sum up to be zero

there's only going to be two forces acting on the balloon. The force due to gravity acting on the total mass of the system and the buoyancy force due to the difference in the density of the air inside the balloon compared to outside

so obviously, as given in the problem, the 724 kg mass is not going to be enough to keep it down, so you need to add some other force to that to equal the buoyancy force
 
So...
-9.8(negative because pushing down)*724 + 9.8*___=0?
 
well, no, you need to account for the buoyancy force
 

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