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Originally Posted by Whaazup17
I am doing some research on air (for tires) 
I know about nitrogen but I did some research and I think nitrogen is heavier than air. Then I thought about helium I found out it is extracted from natural gas (hope it isn't still flammable) but do you think it will expand? And is my theory right?
I know about nitrogen but I did some research and I think nitrogen is heavier than air. Then I thought about helium I found out it is extracted from natural gas (hope it isn't still flammable) but do you think it will expand? And is my theory right?I think that kid that had the funny quote in his textbook is a chemistry major, I took Chem 1&2 in college, so maybe he can back up what I know.
I think chlorine gas is the only other element (other than oxygen) that supports combustion, unless your tires are made of Titanium, which will burn in a nitrogen enviroment. SO you don't need to worry about that.
And as nitrogen is bounded by the ideal gas law, its pressure and volume will fluctuate with temperature variances, but no more than atmospheric air.
You are looking for diatomic dry nitrogen, which is devoid of moisture that will keep from going from a liquid to boiling off into a gaseous state inside a tire that heats up. Oxygen is slighty corrosive at higher temps too, but a lot of this information comes from the F1 data I love, so your tires may never see those temps.
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Helium is a noble gas, its not flamable. Your car won't turn into another Hindenberg, but for more information, please consult your local Periodic Table of the elements, and remember - oh hell, I'm not going to give you a crash course in valience eletrons, brush up on it. It'll be useful one day.
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I wonder if this would decrease unsprung weight somewhat. But i doubt that it would effect the enertia (outward and rotating) of the wheel and tire combo itself due to the fact that the gas makes up little of the total weight when compared to the tire and wheel itself.
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Originally Posted by LuckyH
I wonder if this would decrease unsprung weight somewhat. But i doubt that it would effect the enertia (outward and rotating) of the wheel and tire combo itself due to the fact that the gas makes up little of the total weight when compared to the tire and wheel itself.
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PM SHADOWBOY, He's a chem god.
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You'd get more weight savings by trimming the elastic on your underwear.
It wouldn't affect the spring "rate" of the tire. Pressure would regulate the spring "rate" of the tire, regardless of what that pressure is caused by.
No...not the ideal gas law, now he has to look something else up!
Whazzup, what are you trying to figure out? The air in the tire, for weight saving purposes, is pointless.
Also, helium is such a small atom, it would leak out over time, causing a pressure loss. Pressurizing it into tires would probably only make it more apparent. That's why helium baloons deflate, the helium actually escapes through the rubber.
It wouldn't affect the spring "rate" of the tire. Pressure would regulate the spring "rate" of the tire, regardless of what that pressure is caused by.
No...not the ideal gas law, now he has to look something else up!
Whazzup, what are you trying to figure out? The air in the tire, for weight saving purposes, is pointless.
Also, helium is such a small atom, it would leak out over time, causing a pressure loss. Pressurizing it into tires would probably only make it more apparent. That's why helium baloons deflate, the helium actually escapes through the rubber.
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Originally Posted by Crx_In_Motion
yes nitrogen is more dense then air......hellium is less dense and "lighter" i guess you would say.....But IMO why would u want "lighter tires"..... also hellium is'nt flamable , it is an oxidizer though. and yes hellium does expand, as with all other gasses if heated.
~jake
~jake
to answer the original question:
it doesn't matter WHAT gas you put in your tire, they will all have the same compressibility. at the pressures used in a tire gases behave nearly ideally anyway.
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The answer to your question is sqrt(pi)
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The answer to your question is sqrt(pi)
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Originally Posted by Whaazup17
do you mean the spring rate of the tire? I was just thinking about that cause the tire is like a spring
No unsprung weight, I think the easiest way to explain it would be "any weight that does not rest on the suspension itself." The resistance of the tire to bumps wouldn't be effected that much if the tires were inflated to the same pressure, this only based on the assumption that the two gasses do not expand at vastly different rates when subjected to temperature changes.
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