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Line 1: − + − − Helium is the second element on the [[Periodic Table|periodic table of elements]]. It is also the second most abundant element in the universe, after [[hydrogen]]. Helium is thought by some to have been created initially in [[The Big Bang]] creation event<ref> For a detailed account of this see: http://www.lbl.gov/abc/wallchart/chapters/10/0.html</ref>; however this is disputed <ref>see http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/ApJ/journal/issues/ApJL/v509n1/985623/985623.web.pdf</ref>, but what seems to be generally agreed is that subsequently helium has been created by by [[nuclear fusion]] in the center of stars <ref>A detailed account of this can be found at http://zebu.uoregon.edu/textbook/energygen.html</ref>. − − Helium has an interesting history; during the nineteenth century, one of the things some scientists declared to be "impossible"<ref>[http://www.astrophysical.org/astrophysics.php Astrophysical.org]</ref> was the determination of the chemical makeup of the stars. Then spectroscopy was developed, and the composition of the stars became known in great detail. Helium, in particular, was discovered in the Sun (as an unknown element) ''before'' it was discovered on the Earth. It was first found in natural gas in 1905 at the [[University of Kansas]]. <ref>http://www.news.ku.edu/2000/00N/AprNews/Apr7/bailey.html</ref> It was, accordingly, named after ''helios,'' the Greek for the Sun. − − − − − + + + − − [[Category:Elements]] − [[category:chemistry]]
category/template, note on alpha decay and source in gas wells
{{Element | name=Helium| symbol=He | anumber=2 | amass=4.0026 amu | noe=2 | class=[[Noble Gas]]| cstructure=hexagonal close-packed | color=Colorless | date= August 18, 1868| discname= [[Pierre Janssen]]| origname= from [[Helios]] the [[Greek]] [[Sun]] [[Deity|god]] | uses=Unknown | obtained=. }}
{{Element | name=Helium| symbol=He | anumber=2 | amass=4.0026 amu | state=gas | class=[[Noble Gas]]| cstructure=hexagonal close-packed | color=Colorless | date= August 18, 1868| discname= [[Pierre Janssen]]| origname= from [[Helios]] the [[Greek]] [[Sun]] [[Deity|god]] | uses=Unknown | obtained=. }}
'''Helium''' is the second element on the [[Periodic Table|periodic table of elements]]<ref>Wile, Dr. Jay L. ''Exploring Creation With Physical Science''. Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. 1999, 2000</ref>. It is also the second most abundant element in the universe, after [[hydrogen]]. Helium is thought by some to have been created initially in [[The Big Bang]] creation event<ref> For a detailed account of this see: http://www.lbl.gov/abc/wallchart/chapters/10/0.html</ref>; however this is disputed <ref>see http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/ApJ/journal/issues/ApJL/v509n1/985623/985623.web.pdf</ref>, but what seems to be generally agreed is that subsequently helium has been created by by [[nuclear fusion]] in the center of stars <ref>A detailed account of this can be found at http://zebu.uoregon.edu/textbook/energygen.html</ref>. It is also the by-product of alpha-particle radioactivity. Radioactive decay of heavy elements deep inside the Earth sends Helium leaking into natural gas wells, from which it is obtained for commercial use.
Helium has an interesting history; during the nineteenth century, one of the things some scientists declared to be "impossible"<ref>[http://www.astrophysical.org/astrophysics.php Astrophysical.org]</ref> was the determination of the chemical makeup of the stars. Then spectroscopy was developed, and the composition of the stars became known in great detail. Helium, in particular, was discovered in the Sun (as an unknown element) ''before'' it was discovered on the Earth. It was, accordingly, named after ''helios,'' the Greek for the Sun.
It was first found in natural gas in 1905 at the [[University of Kansas]]. <ref>http://www.news.ku.edu/2000/00N/AprNews/Apr7/bailey.html</ref>.
==Notes and references==
==Notes and references==
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