I like this thread and yet I wonder why it's gone on so long! It's a few pounds and you should design for more because you might have an object in the way such as a robot brushing against it. And as for finding the weight and the difference with air - good work on the math, but I would have just weighed it without the air and with the air, done a little math (a-b) and left it at that
Just a quick tip on the big balls... When you try to set them on the ground, you often notice that they roll a little. They aren't perfectly spherical. I suggest letting the balls come to a rest where they like to stop, and then putting an X on the very top. This way when you reset your field for the 1000th time in week six - you can just slap the ball down on the platform and it won't move!