Here are two crazy boys looking to shoot some balls; one filled with air and the other with helium. How do the two differ? Does filling helium make one ball travel longer distances?
An experiment conducted by the University of Illinois states how the distance traveled by two similar footballs (American ones in this case) significantly changed when they were filled with helium instead of air. They record a mean distance of 29.45 yards with air footballs and 30.80 yards with helium footballs; a whole 1.35 yards difference!
It is simple physics of course since helium gas has half the density of air, a football filled with it weighs approximately 7 grams less than an air-filled one. And because a lighter ball creates less drag friction in the air, they will naturally go further ahead.
Keeping the helium inside the ball is a tough ask though as their molecules are incredibly smaller than air. So fill helium in a standard football, and you’ll have a deflated ball in no time!
Watch the video below to see how helium affects other aspects such as shot accuracy and power as the YouTubers take turns at shooting some freekicks with helium a football!
