mythbusters football?

[benstern]

squeaks posted this in a <a href="http://www.spudfiles.com/forums/viewtop ... ">topic</a>
"As to the mythbusters thing, there is a certain mass where an object can receive the most momentum from an object. In the case of footballs, the small extra bit of mass from the air versus the helium allowed a greater amount of force to be transfered. That's why it went farther."

We should test this with heaver than air gases! a heavier than air gas would theoretically make it travel farther.

densities below are all in gas phase

air has a density of 1.205 kilograms per cubic meter
density of butane: 2.489 kilograms per cubic meter
density of CO2: 1.842 kilograms per cubic meter
density of propane: 1.882 kilograms per cubic meter
density of Butylene (Butene): 2.504 kilograms per cubic meter
density of R-134a : 4.25 kilograms per cubic meter
density of freon 12 vapor: 36.83 kilograms per cubic meter

to test this one would have to make a football launching device that is consistant. It would also have to create a good spin on the football.

[frankrede]

Fill it with co2?

[iknowmy3tables]

HEY did any of you take chemistry use heavy noble gases
Radon is the heaviest, heavier then lead then there’s xenon, krypton, argon, neon, then helium.
OR take the easy way out and use a liquid like H2O by submerging the air pump when you pump but the mass of the ball only increases the momentum to counter act air resistance but when there’s enough mass then the distance will only decrease

[benstern]

I would personally try to fill with R-134a since you can get it from those compressed "air" dusters and it is quite heavy.

If I can find a barrel that fits footballs I could try this. Putting a spin on it would be the hard part. I could somehow engage the threads in a rifling groove.