Question

Ahmad has two unlabeled balloons, one filled with hydrogen gas and the second filled with neon gas.

How dense is that gas?
A) 0.1786 g/L
B) 0.900 g/L
C) 1.429 g/L
D) 1.251 g/L

He places both balloons in a chamber of Helium to help him identify neon and hydrogen.
a. Predict what will happen to help Ahmed identify the element in each of the balloons when it is placed in Helium. Explain your answer. Give your evidence.
A) Both balloons will rise
B) Both balloons will sink
C) The neon balloon will rise, and the hydrogen balloon will sink
D) The hydrogen balloon will rise, and the neon balloon will sink

Answer 1

The hydrogen balloon will rise and the neon balloon will sink when placed in a chamber of helium because hydrogen is less dense than helium while neon is denser than helium.

Step-by-step explanation:

When Ahmad places the two unlabeled balloons, one filled with hydrogen gas and the other with neon gas, in a chamber of helium, the one filled with hydrogen will rise while the one filled with neon will sink. Helium has a density less than that of both hydrogen and neon, which is why helium-filled balloons float. Knowing this, and comparing the densities of the gases, hydrogen, which has a density of approximately 0.08988 g/L at standard atmospheric conditions, is less dense than helium, while neon, with a density of about 0.900 g/L, is denser than helium.

Therefore, the hydrogen balloon will rise due to its lower density compared to helium, and the neon balloon will sink because it is denser than helium. The correct answer to the question regarding how dense the gas is would be B) 0.900 g/L, as that is the density of neon gas under standard temperature and pressure conditions. Thus, for Ahmad, the prediction would be D) The hydrogen balloon will rise, and the neon balloon will sink.