Mythbusters is amazing
The trick here is that a balloon full of helium is much lighter than the air around it - much like when you take an air-filled ball down under the surface of a pool and it pops to the surface, a helium balloon will "pop to the surface" of the atmosphere itself, which is many miles above us.
Unless a cat is keeping it down :)
Pressure always moves from high-to-low - this is why when you squeeze a balloon it will eventually pop, because the pressure inside the balloon is getting higher and higher until it's so strong that it has to move to the lower pressure outside - right through the side of the balloon if necessary.
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| IN THE FACE |
This buoyancy comes from the air (or liquid) that is displaced by the volume of the balloon itself - the atmosphere or water is trying to fill that space, causing a force on the outside of the balloon.
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| Picture from Wikipedia - more info on buoyancy available in that link |
Check out how really weird buoyancy can be:
This guy is SO PUMPED about physics, I love it
Crazy, huh?
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