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Hydrogen Balloon, 19th Century

A man-carrying balloon using the light gas hydrogen for buoyancy was made by Jacques Charles and flown less than a month after the Montgolfier flight, on December 1, 1783. Gas balloons have greater lift for a given volume, so they do not need to be so large, and they can also stay up for much longer than hot air, so gas balloons dominated ballooning for the next 200 years. In the 19th century, it was common to use town gas to fill balloons; this was not as light as pure hydrogen gas, having about half the lifting power, but it was much cheaper and readily available. Hydrogen soon became the most common lifting gas for both balloons and, later, airships. But hydrogen itself is flammable and, following several major disasters in the 1930s, it fell out of use.

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Title: Hydrogen Balloon, 19th Century

Caption: A man-carrying balloon using the light gas hydrogen for buoyancy was made by Jacques Charles and flown less than a month after the Montgolfier flight, on December 1, 1783. Gas balloons have greater lift for a given volume, so they do not need to be so large, and they can also stay up for much longer than hot air, so gas balloons dominated ballooning for the next 200 years. In the 19th century, it was common to use town gas to fill balloons; this was not as light as pure hydrogen gas, having about half the lifting power, but it was much cheaper and readily available. Hydrogen soon became the most common lifting gas for both balloons and, later, airships. But hydrogen itself is flammable and, following several major disasters in the 1930s, it fell out of use.

Credit: Album / Science Source

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Image size: 2747 × 4950 px | 38.9 MB

Print size: 23.3 × 41.9 cm | 1081.5 × 1948.8 in (300 dpi)

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