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What Am I?
Name of element: Helium
Symbol: He
Atomic number: 2
Atomic mass: 4.0026
Number of protons: 2
Number of neutrons: 2
Number of electrons: 2
Helium
By: Tasneem Almohamad
Properties Of Helium
Helium is one of the noble gases in the periodic table and has many unique properties. It's the second lightest element. Helium is a colourless, odourless, and tastelss gas. Helium's melting point is - 272.2°C and it's boiling point is - 268.9 °C. It has a high conductivity and a low density and viscosity. It has a low solubility and is less soluble in water than any other gas. Helium atoms do not form chemical bonds to other helium atoms or to atoms of any other element and is non-flammable and non-toxic. Any study of helium involves the study of its physical properties, with no chemical properties to speak of.
Helium can be absorbed in the body by inhalation. if inhaled it can cause high voice, dizzyness, dullness, headache, suffocation. If liquid helium contacted skin or eye it cause frostbite. Helium atoms do not form chemical bonds to other helium atoms or to atoms of any other element.
Social Connection
Since helium is the second lightest alement, it has been the choice for balloons and airships, however there are more important uses of helium than just to fill balloons. One of the uses of helium is it being a coolant for rocket engines, superconducting magnets and reactors in labratories that can have a very high temperature. Helium is also very important to scuba divers because helium is mixed with air in their tanks which makes it easier for them to breath under water. There are also medical uses for helium. helium is used to treat lung disease, it is essential for treating asthma and hospital MRI scan relies on liquefied helium. Helium is found on the sun which has large amounts of it and is formed in the Earth by natural radioactive decay of heavier elements. There is some helium in the atmosphere that is released by the sun that can be isolated but it is easier and cheaper to isolate the gas from certain natural gases. Because helium is an inert, non-toxic, and an unreactive gas, at normal temperatures, helium is not harmful to the environment.
History Of Helium
Helium was discovered on the sun before it was found on earth. The french astronomer Pierre-Jules-César Janssen obtained the first evidence of helium on August 18th, 1868. While observing a solar eclipse in Guntur, India, Janssen noticed a yellow line in the sun's spectrum and at the time he didn't know what it was. In the same year, another english astronomer, Sir Norman Lockyer, realized that this line could not be produced by any element known at the time and thus was hypothesized to be a new element and was named helium. Finally, in 1895 helium was discovered on earth by the scottish chemist Sir William Ramsay at London, England and Uppsala, Sweden. Ramsay exposed a mineral called cleveite to mineral acids and collected the gases that were produced, and helium was within them. Helium can be found majorly in the sun, some helium can be found in the atmosphere. Helium can also be found on earth where it is formed by elements' radioactive decay.