Chemistry: Hot-Air Ballon Oxygen Storage

[GatorAbe]

Homework Statement

Given that 1,206,900 liters of oxygen are required for a round-the-world trip for a hot-air balloon with a crew of three, and given that carbon-fiber wrapped bottles have a maximum pressure of approx 4500 psi, what total volume of pressure vessel would be necessary to bring along adequate compressed air for the flight? If the bottles come in volumes of 12ft^3, how many bottles does this represent? The balloon flies at an altitude of 40,000 feet. Find these values for 40,000 ft and 0 ft (sea level.)

Homework Equations

This question comes across as a standard Chemistry conversion. Air weighs 1.3 grams per liter. 1 psi is equal to .0703 Kg/cm, so 4500 psi equals 316.38 kg/cm.

The Attempt at a Solution

The question seems to be asking me to convert liters to psi, but I can't figure out how to do that, even when I try converting liter to kg/cm.

 

[chemisttree]

Use Boyle's law. P₁V₁ = P₂V₂

For P₁ use 1 atm (what is that in psi?). You know V₁ and P₂ as well. Can you derive V₂?