[Music]
most people know helium as the
lighter-than-air gas that fills our
party balloons but more importantly it’s
an irreplaceable element for science and
industry helium was discovered in 1868
during a solar eclipse astronomers
observed a yellow light in the Sun’s
corona and couldn’t explain it with any
known elements at the time their
observations turned out to be the first
sightings of a new element and given its
discovery near the Sun this element was
named after the Greek god of the Sun
Helios helium is the second lightest
element second only to hydrogen it’s
located near the top of the periodic
table coming in at atomic number two
meaning it has two protons in its core
it’s usually found in gas form but turns
into liquid below negative 452 degrees
Fahrenheit helium is the second most
abundant element in the universe created
during the Big Bang and found in stars
planets and even our own moon however
it’s relatively rare on earth on our
planet
helium forms as a gaseous byproduct of
ancient uranium that’s decayed over
billions of years and is trapped beneath
the earth’s surface it’s harvested from
natural gas reserves and can’t be
artificially produced making helium a
non-renewable resource on our planet
[Music]
helium has a variety of applications
largely due to its unique
characteristics it’s a noble gas so it’s
less likely to interact with other
elements when mixed with neon helium can
create low-power lasers used to scan
barcodes at checkout counters
when mixed with oxygen in a
high-pressure environment helium allows
deep-sea divers to breathe in the air
from their oxygen tanks more easily and
since helium has a low boiling point
it’s useful in extremely cold
temperatures because of this it can cool
some of the most powerful electromagnets
on earth including the Large Hadron
Collider while helium can be applied in
seemingly countless ways its
availability is finite because it’s
lightweight when helium is released into
the atmosphere it floats into space and
but by pursuing avenues of Helium
recycling exploration and storage we may
be able to protect and sustain this precious non-renewable resource
most people know helium as the
lighter-than-air gas that fills our
party balloons but more importantly it’s
an irreplaceable element for science and
industry helium was discovered in 1868
during a solar eclipse astronomers
observed a yellow light in the Sun’s
corona and couldn’t explain it with any
known elements at the time their
observations turned out to be the first
sightings of a new element and given its
discovery near the Sun this element was
named after the Greek god of the Sun
Helios helium is the second lightest
element second only to hydrogen it’s
located near the top of the periodic
table coming in at atomic number two
meaning it has two protons in its core
it’s usually found in gas form but turns
into liquid below negative 452 degrees
Fahrenheit helium is the second most
abundant element in the universe created
during the Big Bang and found in stars
planets and even our own moon however
it’s relatively rare on earth on our
planet
helium forms as a gaseous byproduct of
ancient uranium that’s decayed over
billions of years and is trapped beneath
the earth’s surface it’s harvested from
natural gas reserves and can’t be
artificially produced making helium a
non-renewable resource on our planet
[Music]
helium has a variety of applications
largely due to its unique
characteristics it’s a noble gas so it’s
less likely to interact with other
elements when mixed with neon helium can
create low-power lasers used to scan
barcodes at checkout counters
when mixed with oxygen in a
high-pressure environment helium allows
deep-sea divers to breathe in the air
from their oxygen tanks more easily and
since helium has a low boiling point
it’s useful in extremely cold
temperatures because of this it can cool
some of the most powerful electromagnets
on earth including the Large Hadron
Collider while helium can be applied in
seemingly countless ways its
availability is finite because it’s
lightweight when helium is released into
the atmosphere it floats into space and
but by pursuing avenues of Helium
recycling exploration and storage we may
be able to protect and sustain this precious non-renewable resource
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