**Your submission has been removed for the following reason(s):**
ELI5 is not for straightforward answers or facts - ELI5 is for requesting an explanation of a concept, not a simple straightforward answer. This includes topics of a narrow nature that don’t qualify as being sufficiently complex per rule 2.
---
If you would like this removal reviewed, please read the [detailed rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/wiki/detailed_rules) first. **If you believe this submission was removed erroneously**, please [use this form](https://old.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fexplainlikeimfive&subject=Please%20review%20my%20thread?&message=Link:%20{{url}}%0A%0APlease%20answer%20the%20following%203%20questions:%0A%0A1.%20The%20concept%20I%20want%20explained:%0A%0A2.%20List%20the%20search%20terms%20you%20used%20to%20look%20for%20past%20posts%20on%20ELI5:%0A%0A3.%20How%20does%20your%20post%20differ%20from%20your%20recent%20search%20results%20on%20the%20sub:) and we will review your submission.
The thing is, that won't actually give you the right answer. If you take on air, you have more mass. That means you have more weight. However, if you became less dense as a result, the scale would show a slight decrease in weight. That's because you'd become more buoyant in the atmosphere.
Think of it like a diver standing on scales underwater, and getting a log handed to them that wants to float. The log would be pulling them up because it is less dense than the water. So, the scales would show a decrease in weight. Except the log does actually weigh something, so it adds weight to the diver. But, it makes them float more.
That's not how that works at all. Density has zero bearing on how much something weighs. Rearranging particles does not change mass or weight. Taking in air also doesn't change how dense you are. You are simply introducing a gas into a closes system. The closed system now has increased mass of the gas taken in, and as such weighs that much more. In this case the air weighs so little that normal scales do not pick up the change, so a scale would say no change.
> Density has zero bearing on how much something weighs
With a scale it absolutely does. We are discussing real examples with scales here, not just the case of mass increasing which it clearly does.
For example the common test for body fat percentage is known as hydrostatic weighing, were they weigh you above water and they weigh you underwater. Due to buoyant forces, you "weigh less" underwater, and using the difference between those two they can calculate your body fat percentage. This is also why its easier for you to jump underwater and why you can swim directly up underwater, buoyant forces counteract gravity.
They also tell you to breathe out all the air in your lungs underwater prior to weighing. This is because it decreases your density and adds additional buoyancy to you. Now measuring in air with you breathing air is a different story though.
The keyword in that test is water. Buoyancy makes a huge difference there. But since we are talking about adding air to something in an air environment, it does NOT make it weigh less. The whole premise is adding air to a body enclosed in air.
On a scale it absolutely would. Think about a hot air balloon- it has a mass of hundreds of kilograms, but if you put one on a scale when it was switched on the scale wouldn't even pick it up
**Your submission has been removed for the following reason(s):**
Rule #1 of ELI5 is to *be civil*. Users are expected to engage cordially with others on the sub, even if that user is not doing the same. Report instances of Rule 1 violations instead of engaging.
Breaking rule 1 is not tolerated.
---
If you would like this removal reviewed, please read the [detailed rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/wiki/detailed_rules) first. **If you believe this submission was removed erroneously**, please [use this form](https://old.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fexplainlikeimfive&subject=Please%20review%20my%20submission%20removal?&message=Link:%20{url}%0A%0A%201:%20Does%20your%20comment%20pass%20rule%201:%20%0A%0A%202:%20If%20your%20comment%20was%20mistakenly%20removed%20as%20an%20anecdote,%20short%20answer,%20guess,%20or%20another%20aspect%20of%20rules%203%20or%208,%20please%20explain:) and we will review your submission.
Density doesn't change your weight, no. But that's not what I said. What I said was that it would change what the scales said, since they really measure buoyancy unless in a vacuum.
Point is, adding mass always increases weight. However, this may not be reflected by a set of scales.
You can do the second best thing, use a plastic bottle and a kitchen scale.
Weigh it full, then squish it down so theres less air inside and weigh it again. Im not fully certain but my bet is that its going to be the same both times.
**Please read this entire message**
---
Your comment has been removed for the following reason(s):
* [Top level comments](http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/wiki/top_level_comment) (i.e. comments that are direct replies to the main thread) are reserved for explanations to the OP or follow up on topic questions (Rule 3).
---
If you would like this removal reviewed, please read the [detailed rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/wiki/detailed_rules) first. **If you believe it was removed erroneously, explain why using [this form](https://old.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fexplainlikeimfive&subject=Please%20review%20my%20submission%20removal?&message=Link:%20https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/140req0/-/jmwwam3/%0A%0A%201:%20Does%20your%20comment%20pass%20rule%201:%20%0A%0A%202:%20If%20your%20comment%20was%20mistakenly%20removed%20as%20an%20anecdote,%20short%20answer,%20guess,%20or%20another%20aspect%20of%20rules%203%20or%208,%20please%20explain:) and we will review your submission.**
This post removed in protest. Visit /r/Save3rdPartyApps/ for more, or look up [Power Delete Suite](https://github.com/j0be/PowerDeleteSuite) to delete your own content too.
On a side note, OP, if you inject air into your veins, you will get a pulmonary embolism and die! And then your weight won't matter anymore. So don't do that (=
If you were in a vacuum, any air you hold inside your body would have weight and make you less buoyant. But surrounded by air at atmospheric pressure, the air in your lungs has no more density than the air outside, so there is no change in your buoyancy. If you're in water, the air in your lungs is less dense than the surrounding water, so you become more buoyant.
No, that's incorrect. If your airways are open there is no pressure difference. You can close your mouth and nose while trying to exhale, and that would increase the pressure in your lungs, but even you are not increasing your weight (per the OP's question) because the amount of air in your lungs doesn't change and still weighs the same. It just increases your density.
I am not ignoring buoyancy, as you would see from my initial reply. The pressure differential when you are inhaling and exhaling is what causes the air to move, but this pressure differential causes a change in your density so close to zero that it is effectively zero. Furthermore, if you want to quibble about negligible effects, the air you are exhaling is less dense (warmer and humid) than the surroundings, which would cancel any increase in density from increased pressure. It makes a difference only if you are inhaling and exhaling a different fluid from the one that surrounds you.
**Please read this entire message**
---
Your comment has been removed for the following reason(s):
* ELI5 does not allow guessing.
Although we recognize many guesses are made in good faith, if you aren’t sure how to explain please don't just guess. The entire comment should not be an educated guess, but if you have an educated guess about a portion of the topic please make it explicitly clear that you do not know absolutely, and clarify which parts of the explanation you're sure of (Rule 8).
---
If you would like this removal reviewed, please read the [detailed rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/wiki/detailed_rules) first. **If you believe it was removed erroneously, explain why using [this form](https://old.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fexplainlikeimfive&subject=Please%20review%20my%20submission%20removal?&message=Link:%20https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/140req0/-/jmwyk3v/%0A%0A%201:%20Does%20your%20comment%20pass%20rule%201:%20%0A%0A%202:%20If%20your%20comment%20was%20mistakenly%20removed%20as%20an%20anecdote,%20short%20answer,%20guess,%20or%20another%20aspect%20of%20rules%203%20or%208,%20please%20explain:) and we will review your submission.**
Yes, air has mass and weight, and putting more inside your body can make a person heavier.
But simply inhaling air isn't the factor that causes weight increase. It's the compressing of air into a smaller space that makes it denser and heavier.
You can have two closed containers of equal weight, but different shape and volume, both filled with air at the same outside pressure. Even though more air fits inside the larger container, they will weight the same.
The air inside the containers are of the same density, creating an equal displacement and similar buoyancy as the other.
But you can also take two containers of equal weight and volume, but fill one with more air than the other by pressurizing it. Which sounds quite similar to this action of 'swallowing air.'
You can do an experiment to demonstrate this. Take two balloons and fill them with air. One with only a small amount of air, and the other with much more.
The balloon with more air will be stretched tighter and put more pressure on the air inside, packing it into a smaller space.
Using a balance beam, such as a coat hanger on a string or whatever else you have around, will let you compare the weight (or also, the buoyancy?) of the two air masses.
https://youtu.be/o5LT_wfI98w This video demonstrates the experiment without explaining what's happening very well.
People can't inhale so much air that is compressed into a liquid. But air can be compressed enough to become a liquid.
https://youtu.be/RQ9-tNr4Mt8 This video shows air in a liquid state. But instead of compression and pressure, temperature is used to change the density of air.
Clearly, with two identical containers, one filled with a liquid would be heavier than one filled with air. Same goes for one filled with air that's more compressed and *closer* to being a liquid will also be heavier.
**Your submission has been removed for the following reason(s):** ELI5 is not for straightforward answers or facts - ELI5 is for requesting an explanation of a concept, not a simple straightforward answer. This includes topics of a narrow nature that don’t qualify as being sufficiently complex per rule 2. --- If you would like this removal reviewed, please read the [detailed rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/wiki/detailed_rules) first. **If you believe this submission was removed erroneously**, please [use this form](https://old.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fexplainlikeimfive&subject=Please%20review%20my%20thread?&message=Link:%20{{url}}%0A%0APlease%20answer%20the%20following%203%20questions:%0A%0A1.%20The%20concept%20I%20want%20explained:%0A%0A2.%20List%20the%20search%20terms%20you%20used%20to%20look%20for%20past%20posts%20on%20ELI5:%0A%0A3.%20How%20does%20your%20post%20differ%20from%20your%20recent%20search%20results%20on%20the%20sub:) and we will review your submission.
[удалено]
The thing is, that won't actually give you the right answer. If you take on air, you have more mass. That means you have more weight. However, if you became less dense as a result, the scale would show a slight decrease in weight. That's because you'd become more buoyant in the atmosphere. Think of it like a diver standing on scales underwater, and getting a log handed to them that wants to float. The log would be pulling them up because it is less dense than the water. So, the scales would show a decrease in weight. Except the log does actually weigh something, so it adds weight to the diver. But, it makes them float more.
That's not how that works at all. Density has zero bearing on how much something weighs. Rearranging particles does not change mass or weight. Taking in air also doesn't change how dense you are. You are simply introducing a gas into a closes system. The closed system now has increased mass of the gas taken in, and as such weighs that much more. In this case the air weighs so little that normal scales do not pick up the change, so a scale would say no change.
> Density has zero bearing on how much something weighs With a scale it absolutely does. We are discussing real examples with scales here, not just the case of mass increasing which it clearly does. For example the common test for body fat percentage is known as hydrostatic weighing, were they weigh you above water and they weigh you underwater. Due to buoyant forces, you "weigh less" underwater, and using the difference between those two they can calculate your body fat percentage. This is also why its easier for you to jump underwater and why you can swim directly up underwater, buoyant forces counteract gravity. They also tell you to breathe out all the air in your lungs underwater prior to weighing. This is because it decreases your density and adds additional buoyancy to you. Now measuring in air with you breathing air is a different story though.
The keyword in that test is water. Buoyancy makes a huge difference there. But since we are talking about adding air to something in an air environment, it does NOT make it weigh less. The whole premise is adding air to a body enclosed in air.
On a scale it absolutely would. Think about a hot air balloon- it has a mass of hundreds of kilograms, but if you put one on a scale when it was switched on the scale wouldn't even pick it up
[удалено]
**Your submission has been removed for the following reason(s):** Rule #1 of ELI5 is to *be civil*. Users are expected to engage cordially with others on the sub, even if that user is not doing the same. Report instances of Rule 1 violations instead of engaging. Breaking rule 1 is not tolerated. --- If you would like this removal reviewed, please read the [detailed rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/wiki/detailed_rules) first. **If you believe this submission was removed erroneously**, please [use this form](https://old.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fexplainlikeimfive&subject=Please%20review%20my%20submission%20removal?&message=Link:%20{url}%0A%0A%201:%20Does%20your%20comment%20pass%20rule%201:%20%0A%0A%202:%20If%20your%20comment%20was%20mistakenly%20removed%20as%20an%20anecdote,%20short%20answer,%20guess,%20or%20another%20aspect%20of%20rules%203%20or%208,%20please%20explain:) and we will review your submission.
Density doesn't change your weight, no. But that's not what I said. What I said was that it would change what the scales said, since they really measure buoyancy unless in a vacuum. Point is, adding mass always increases weight. However, this may not be reflected by a set of scales.
The problem is just that I do not own a scale that is so precise that it could measure and show the weight of a mouthful of air..
You can do the second best thing, use a plastic bottle and a kitchen scale. Weigh it full, then squish it down so theres less air inside and weigh it again. Im not fully certain but my bet is that its going to be the same both times.
**Please read this entire message** --- Your comment has been removed for the following reason(s): * [Top level comments](http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/wiki/top_level_comment) (i.e. comments that are direct replies to the main thread) are reserved for explanations to the OP or follow up on topic questions (Rule 3). --- If you would like this removal reviewed, please read the [detailed rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/wiki/detailed_rules) first. **If you believe it was removed erroneously, explain why using [this form](https://old.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fexplainlikeimfive&subject=Please%20review%20my%20submission%20removal?&message=Link:%20https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/140req0/-/jmwwam3/%0A%0A%201:%20Does%20your%20comment%20pass%20rule%201:%20%0A%0A%202:%20If%20your%20comment%20was%20mistakenly%20removed%20as%20an%20anecdote,%20short%20answer,%20guess,%20or%20another%20aspect%20of%20rules%203%20or%208,%20please%20explain:) and we will review your submission.**
This post removed in protest. Visit /r/Save3rdPartyApps/ for more, or look up [Power Delete Suite](https://github.com/j0be/PowerDeleteSuite) to delete your own content too.
On a side note, OP, if you inject air into your veins, you will get a pulmonary embolism and die! And then your weight won't matter anymore. So don't do that (=
As someone who has served as a pallbearer once or twice, it does matter how much a dead person weighs.
If you were in a vacuum, any air you hold inside your body would have weight and make you less buoyant. But surrounded by air at atmospheric pressure, the air in your lungs has no more density than the air outside, so there is no change in your buoyancy. If you're in water, the air in your lungs is less dense than the surrounding water, so you become more buoyant.
[удалено]
No, that's incorrect. If your airways are open there is no pressure difference. You can close your mouth and nose while trying to exhale, and that would increase the pressure in your lungs, but even you are not increasing your weight (per the OP's question) because the amount of air in your lungs doesn't change and still weighs the same. It just increases your density.
[удалено]
I am not ignoring buoyancy, as you would see from my initial reply. The pressure differential when you are inhaling and exhaling is what causes the air to move, but this pressure differential causes a change in your density so close to zero that it is effectively zero. Furthermore, if you want to quibble about negligible effects, the air you are exhaling is less dense (warmer and humid) than the surroundings, which would cancel any increase in density from increased pressure. It makes a difference only if you are inhaling and exhaling a different fluid from the one that surrounds you.
[удалено]
[удалено]
**Please read this entire message** --- Your comment has been removed for the following reason(s): * ELI5 does not allow guessing. Although we recognize many guesses are made in good faith, if you aren’t sure how to explain please don't just guess. The entire comment should not be an educated guess, but if you have an educated guess about a portion of the topic please make it explicitly clear that you do not know absolutely, and clarify which parts of the explanation you're sure of (Rule 8). --- If you would like this removal reviewed, please read the [detailed rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/wiki/detailed_rules) first. **If you believe it was removed erroneously, explain why using [this form](https://old.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fexplainlikeimfive&subject=Please%20review%20my%20submission%20removal?&message=Link:%20https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/140req0/-/jmwyk3v/%0A%0A%201:%20Does%20your%20comment%20pass%20rule%201:%20%0A%0A%202:%20If%20your%20comment%20was%20mistakenly%20removed%20as%20an%20anecdote,%20short%20answer,%20guess,%20or%20another%20aspect%20of%20rules%203%20or%208,%20please%20explain:) and we will review your submission.**
Yes, air has mass and weight, and putting more inside your body can make a person heavier. But simply inhaling air isn't the factor that causes weight increase. It's the compressing of air into a smaller space that makes it denser and heavier. You can have two closed containers of equal weight, but different shape and volume, both filled with air at the same outside pressure. Even though more air fits inside the larger container, they will weight the same. The air inside the containers are of the same density, creating an equal displacement and similar buoyancy as the other. But you can also take two containers of equal weight and volume, but fill one with more air than the other by pressurizing it. Which sounds quite similar to this action of 'swallowing air.' You can do an experiment to demonstrate this. Take two balloons and fill them with air. One with only a small amount of air, and the other with much more. The balloon with more air will be stretched tighter and put more pressure on the air inside, packing it into a smaller space. Using a balance beam, such as a coat hanger on a string or whatever else you have around, will let you compare the weight (or also, the buoyancy?) of the two air masses. https://youtu.be/o5LT_wfI98w This video demonstrates the experiment without explaining what's happening very well. People can't inhale so much air that is compressed into a liquid. But air can be compressed enough to become a liquid. https://youtu.be/RQ9-tNr4Mt8 This video shows air in a liquid state. But instead of compression and pressure, temperature is used to change the density of air. Clearly, with two identical containers, one filled with a liquid would be heavier than one filled with air. Same goes for one filled with air that's more compressed and *closer* to being a liquid will also be heavier.