Weather Balloons are balloons that are sent into the air to record the atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity and wind speed. Weather Balloons contain helium, that is how they float into the air. Weather Balloons can be different sizes but they all expand in the air. Weather balloons are mostly made from plant latex. Weather Balloons can rise to the edge of space.
Weather Balloons contain helium so that they rise. They can only do this because helium has less density than air just like oil has less density than water. So the Weather Balloon would be able to go to the surface of the earth's atmosphere. Once the balloon has got to the edge of space it will pop and fall back down onto land.
Weather Balloons are all different sizes but they aren’t listed in size, they are listed in weight. Some weather balloons will be bigger and weigh more because they need more latex, but will still be the same thickness as smaller ones. The difference in weight is dependent on the size of the mold. A Weather Balloon can start at about 2 m diameter and end up about 10 m diameter.
Latex is used by plants to help defend themselves from herbivorous insects. Latex is a liquid that looks like milk and can be taken out of trees. The latex is normally naturally extracted from trees then it gets spun in a mold to make it a balloon shape. After it is molded it is inflated and checked for any leaks and or defeats and lastly it is sent off to customers and distributors.
One of the first Weather Balloons documented was made by Leon Teisserenc de Bort. In 1896 he was actively launching them. James Van Allen who discovered later the Earth’s Van Allen Belts. He also launched a lot of important Weather Balloon experiments in the 1950’s and was the man of the year in 1960.
In conclusion Weather Balloons are balloons that contain helium so that they rise into the air to record the atmospheric weather conditions. Weather Balloons can be all different sizes but they can expand in the air. Weather Balloons are made of latex which is a liquid like milk.
Images + Information from High Altitude Science
Good job Phoeb's. I know you spent quite some time researching information for this and it shows.
ReplyDelete