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Why Sky Lanterns Float
284
3 FundamentaL
PRINCIPLES OF PHYSICS
Ideal Gas Law
1. Ideal gas law
2. Convection
3. Archimedes Principle
The ideal gas law is a mathematical relationship between the volume pressure and temperature of a gas.
If a gas is heated, as in a sky lantern, then its volume will increase. The flame heats the air inside the lantern and as the volume of gas increases, it fills the lantern. Soon the lantern is full of hot air.
Why Do Sky
Lanterns Float?
Kathy Phan
Lillian Nguyen
Convection
Convection is the transfer of heat by the circulation or movement of the heated parts of a liquid or gas.
When the air inside the lantern is heated, the air volume expands and its density reduces, so it moves upward while cold air moves in.
This continuous heat convection makes the sky lantern rise.
Archimedes Principle
Archimedes Principle states that the buoyant force on a submerged object is equal to the weight of the fluid that is displaced by the object.
What we can gather from this is an object will float in a fluid if it is less dense than the fluid.
In science a fluid is technically defined as either a liquid or a gas. Air is therefore a fluid and Archimedes's principle applies to floating in air.
For the lantern to rise...
•Hot air inside the lantern must have low density
•The density difference depends on the temperature; the lantern will fly better in cooler temperatures
In Conclusion
According to the ideal gas law, density is reduced as the hot air fills the lantern.
When its total density is less than the density of air, it floats according to Archimedes's principle.