Helium

2021-02-22T17:24:45Z

Socrates75:

{{Element
| name=Helium
| image=
| caption=
| symbol=He
| anumber=2
| class=Group 18, [[Noble gas]]
| amass=4.0026 amu
| stableisotopes=
| unstableisotopes=
| meltingpoint=-272.2 (''26 atm'')
| boilingpoint=-268.6
| density=0.1785 (''per liter'')<br/>0.1380 (''relative'')
| hardness=
| abundance=5 x 10<sup>-4</sup>
| oxidation=
| date= August 18, 1868
| discname=Pierre Janssen
| origname=from [[Greek mythology]]: [[Helios]] the sun god
| uses=
| obtained=
}}
'''Helium''' is the second element on the [[periodic table of the 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]]. Modern physicists have acertained that most of the helium originated from the [[Big Bang]];<ref>For a detailed account of this see: http://www.lbl.gov/abc/wallchart/chapters/10/0.html</ref> however this is disputed by all forms of [[creationists]].<ref>See http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/ApJ/journal/issues/ApJL/v509n1/985623/985623.web.pdf</ref> Both groups generally agree that subsequently helium has been created 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 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. The atomic weight of Helium-4, the most common isotope, is 4.002603254.

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 god of 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==
<references/>
{{Periodic table}}
[[Category:Elements]]

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Helium