Balloon

A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. Modern day balloons are made from materials such as rubber, latex, polychloroprene, or a nylon fabric, and can come in many colors. Some early balloons were made of dried animal bladders, such as the pig bladder. Some balloons are used for decorative purposes, while others are used for practical purposes such as meteorology, medical treatment, military defense, or transportation. A balloon's properties, including its low density and low cost, have led to a wide range of applications.

The rubber balloon was invented by Michael Faraday in 1824, during experiments with various gases.

Applications

Decoration or entertainment

Party balloons are mostly made of a natural latex tapped from rubber trees, and can be filled with air, helium, water, or any other suitable liquid or gas. The rubber's elasticity makes the volume adjustable. As shown in the photo to the right, they can come in different colors like the rainbow such as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, etc.

Balloon (game)

Balloon, balloon-ball or wind-ball was a game similar to the modern game of volleyball in which a leather ball would be batted by the fist or forearm to prevent it from touching the ground. The game was played in ancient Rome where it was known as follis — the Latin word for a leather bag. Such a ball made of leather was quite heavy and so protection might be used such as a leather gauntlet or wooden bracer. When rubber became available from the New World, the game was played using lighter balls of inflated rubber and so younger boys could play too.

See also

References

Balloon (aeronautics)

In aeronautics, a balloon is an unpowered aerostat, which remains aloft or floats due to its buoyancy. A balloon may be free, moving with the wind, or tethered to a fixed point. It is distinct from an airship, which is a powered aerostat that can propel itself through the air in a controlled manner.

Many balloons have a basket, gondola or capsule suspended beneath the main envelope for carrying people or equipment (including cameras and telescopes, and flight-control mechanisms).

Principles

A balloon is conceptually the simplest of all flying machines. The balloon is a fabric envelope filled with a gas that is lighter than the surrounding atmosphere. As the entire balloon is less dense than its surroundings, it rises, taking along with it a basket, attached underneath, which carries passengers or payload. Although a balloon has no propulsion system, a degree of directional control is possible through making the balloon rise or sink in altitude to find favorable wind directions.

Bellevue

Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. It may refer to:

Australia

Canada

Denmark

France

Germany

Sweden

Bellevueplatz

Bellevueplatz ("Bellevue Square", Bellevue is French for "beautiful sight") is a town square in Zürich, Switzerland. It is named after the former Grandhotel Bellevue on its north side, built in 1856, and is one of the nodal points of the road and public transportation in Zurich, and an extension of the quaysides in Zürich that were built between 1881 and 1887.

Geography

Belleuve is situated at the historical Sechseläutenwiese area, now the Sechseläutenplatz square, in between the Quay Bridge (Quaibrücke) to the east on the Lake Zurich lake shore, just next to the effluence of the lake into the Limmat, and the Limmatquai to its north. It is bounded by Theaterstrasse and Utoquai, on its east and west side, respectively, and Rämistrasse in its north and the Schoeckstrasse to its south. It is situated on the right hand shore of the Limmat. The square is about 200 metres (660 ft) north-west of the Stadelhofen railway station.

Transportation

The square is one of the nodal poins of the Zürich tram lines 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11 and 15, as well the regional bus lines 912 and 916, as being the border between Rathaus and Hochschulen quarters. Thus, in practice the square may not used in the classical sense as a public square for recreation, thus the adjointed Sechseläutenplatz was rebuilt in 2013 for public use.

Bellevue, Washington

Bellevue (/ˈbɛlvjuː/ US dict: bĕl′·vyū) is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, across Lake Washington from Seattle. As Seattle's largest suburb, Bellevue has variously been characterized as an edge city, a boomburb, or satellite city. The city had a population of 122,363 at the 2010 census.

Prior to 2008, downtown Bellevue underwent rapid change, with many high rise projects under construction, and was relatively unaffected by the economic downturn. It is currently the second largest city center in Washington state with over 35,000 employees and 5,000 residents. Based on per capita income, Bellevue is the 6th wealthiest of 522 communities in the state of Washington. In 2008, Bellevue was named number 1 in CNNMoney's list of the best places to live and launch a business, and in 2010 was again ranked as the 4th best place to live in America. The name "Bellevue" is French for "beautiful view". In 2014, Bellevue was ranked as the 2nd best place to live by USA Today.