Q. 23 A hot air balloon is a sphere of radius 8 m. The air inside is at a temperature of 60°C. How large a mass can the balloon lift when the outside temperature is 20°C? Assume air is an ideal gas, R=8.314 J mole-1K-1, 1 atm = 1.013×105 Pa, the membrane tension is 5 Nm-1.

Hint: Apply the concept of excess pressure.
Step 1: Find the excess pressure inside the balloon.
Let the pressure inside the balloon be pi and the outside pressure be po, then excess
pressure is pi-po=2sr
where S = Surface tension
r= radius of the balloon
Considering the air to be an ideal gas, piV=niRTi where, V is the volume of the air inside the balloon, ni is the number of moles inside the balloon and Ti is the temperature inside the balloon, and where V is the volume of the air displaced and no is the number of moles displaced and To is the temperature outside.
So.                         ni=piVRTi=MiMA
where Mi is the mass of air inside and MA is the molar mass of air.
and                           no=poVRTo=MoMA
where Mo is the mass of air outside that has been displaced.
Step 2: Find the weight lifted by the balloon.
If w is the load it can raise, then,
w + Mig=Mog
               w=Mog-Mig
As in atmosphere 21%O2 and 79%N2 are present.
 The molar mass of air,
                      Mi=0.21×32+0.79×28=28.84 g.
 Weight raised by the balloon,
                                       w=(Mo-Mi)g                 w=MAVRpoTo-piTig                 =0.02884×43π×83×9.88.3141.013×105293-13331.013×105-2×58×313                 =0.02884×43π×83×9.88.314×1.013×1051293-1333                 =3044.2 N
 Masslifted by the balloon,
m=wg=3044.210304.42 kg              305 kg.