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Helium: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Helium
On the 18th of August 1868, during a total solar eclipse over the Malacca peninsula, French astronomer Jules Janssen observed a bright yellow spectral line that defied all known chemistry. This line, appearing at a wavelength of 587.49 nanometers, was initially mistaken for sodium, yet it did not match the known D1 or D2 lines of that element. While Janssen recorded the anomaly, English astronomer Norman Lockyer independently observed the same spectral signature from Britain and boldly concluded that it belonged to a new element unknown to Earth. Lockyer named this element helium, derived from the Greek word helios for the Sun, marking the first time humanity identified a substance in the cosmos before ever finding it on the ground. The discovery remained a cosmic curiosity for nearly three decades, as no one could isolate the gas from terrestrial sources, leaving it as a ghostly presence in the stars while chemists searched in vain for its earthly twin.
The Earth's Hidden Treasure
The first terrestrial isolation of helium occurred on the 26th of March 1895, when Scottish chemist Sir William Ramsay treated the mineral cleveite with mineral acids. Ramsay was originally searching for argon, but upon separating nitrogen and oxygen, he noticed a bright yellow line matching the solar spectrum observed by Lockyer. This discovery proved that the element existed on Earth, yet it remained a rare curiosity until 1903, when an oil drilling operation in Dexter, Kansas, produced a gas geyser that would not burn. State geologist Erasmus Haworth collected samples of this escaping gas and discovered it contained 1.84% helium, revealing that the element was concentrated in large quantities beneath the American Great Plains. This finding transformed helium from a laboratory oddity into a strategic resource, as the gas was trapped with natural gas in concentrations as high as 7% by volume, waiting to be extracted by low-temperature separation processes known as fractional distillation.
The Liquid Paradox
In 1908, Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes achieved the impossible by liquefying helium, cooling the gas to less than 4.2 Kelvin, yet he failed to solidify it even by further reducing the temperature. Helium remains liquid down to absolute zero at atmospheric pressure, a direct effect of quantum mechanics where the zero point energy of the system is too high to allow freezing. This unique behavior led to the discovery of two distinct liquid phases: Helium I, a conventional liquid, and Helium II, a superfluid that exhibits zero viscosity and can flow through capillaries as thin as 10 to 100 nanometers without resistance. When Helium II flows through a sintered disc, it creates a fountain effect, and when it encounters a surface extending past its level, it creeps along the walls in a 30-nanometer-thick film known as the Rollin film, eventually escaping the container entirely. This quantum fluid conducts heat a million times better than Helium I and moves as waves in a phenomenon called second sound, defying all classical expectations of matter.
When and where was helium first discovered by astronomers?
Helium was first discovered on the 18th of August 1868 during a total solar eclipse over the Malacca peninsula by French astronomer Jules Janssen. English astronomer Norman Lockyer independently observed the same spectral signature from Britain and named the element after the Greek word helios for the Sun.
When was helium first isolated on Earth and by whom?
The first terrestrial isolation of helium occurred on the 26th of March 1895 when Scottish chemist Sir William Ramsay treated the mineral cleveite with mineral acids. This discovery proved that the element existed on Earth after remaining a cosmic curiosity for nearly three decades.
What unique physical properties does liquid helium exhibit at low temperatures?
Helium remains liquid down to absolute zero at atmospheric pressure and exhibits two distinct liquid phases known as Helium I and Helium II. Helium II is a superfluid that exhibits zero viscosity and can flow through capillaries as thin as 10 to 100 nanometers without resistance.
Why was helium considered a strategic resource during World War I and the Cold War?
Helium was considered a strategic resource because the Helium Act of 1925 banned its export and the United States government established the National Helium Reserve in 1925 at Amarillo, Texas. This reserve ensured a supply for military airships during war and commercial airships in peacetime while helium was required as a coolant to create oxygen-hydrogen rocket fuel during the Space Race.
How does helium-4 contribute to the elemental mass of the observable universe?
Helium-4 constitutes 24% of the total elemental mass of the observable universe because its nucleus is identical to an alpha particle and was formed in enormous quantities during Big Bang nucleosynthesis. The nuclear binding energy of helium-4 is so high that it prevents the formation of heavier elements in the early universe.
What are the primary dangers of inhaling helium and what are its major industrial uses?
Inhaling helium can be fatal because the gas displaces oxygen needed for normal respiration and can cause barotrauma that fatally ruptures lung tissue. The largest single use of liquid helium is to cool the superconducting magnets in modern MRI scanners and the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.
During World War I, the United States Navy sponsored experimental helium plants to supply non-flammable lifting gas for barrage balloons, producing 92% helium despite having obtained less than a cubic meter of the gas previously. The first helium-filled airship, the U.S. Navy's C-class blimp C-7, flew its maiden voyage on the 1st of December 1921, nearly two years before the first rigid helium-filled airship, the USS Shenandoah. The strategic importance of helium became undeniable when the Helium Act of 1925 banned its export, forcing German Zeppelins to use hydrogen as a lifting gas, a decision that would later gain infamy in the Hindenburg disaster. The government established the National Helium Reserve in 1925 at Amarillo, Texas, to ensure a supply for military airships during war and commercial airships in peacetime, creating a monopoly that would shape global geopolitics for the next century. By 1965, helium use in the United States was more than eight times the peak wartime consumption, driven by the Space Race and the Cold War, which required liquid helium as a coolant to create oxygen-hydrogen rocket fuel.
The Quantum Mystery
The stability of the helium-4 nucleus, identical to an alpha particle, explains why it was formed in enormous quantities during Big Bang nucleosynthesis and why it constitutes 24% of the total elemental mass of the observable universe. This nuclear binding energy is so high that adding another particle to helium-4 consumes rather than releases energy, making all systems with mass number 5 unbound and preventing the formation of heavier elements in the early universe. In the laboratory, this stability manifests in the behavior of helium-3 and helium-4, which form several crystalline solid phases only when subjected to pressures above 25 bar. The isotope helium-3, present on Earth only in trace amounts, is much more abundant in stars and on the Moon's surface, where it exists at concentrations of 10 parts per billion, leading to proposals to mine lunar regolith for fusion energy. Theoretical chemistry has even produced exotic compounds like helium hydride ions and endohedral fullerenes, where helium atoms are trapped inside carbon cages, proving that even the most inert element can be coaxed into forming bonds under extreme conditions.
The Silent Killer
While helium is non-toxic and plays no biological role, inhaling it can be fatal, as evidenced by the death of a 15-year-old girl from Texas in 1998 who suffocated after inhaling helium at a party. The gas displaces oxygen needed for normal respiration, and inhaling it directly from pressurized cylinders can cause barotrauma, fatally rupturing lung tissue due to the high flow rate and pressure. In 2015, a 12-year-old member of the Japanese singing group 3B Junior suffered an air embolism and fell into a coma after inhaling huge quantities of helium during a TV game, highlighting the dangers of treating the gas as a mere party trick. These fatalities, including cases in Vancouver, South Florida, and Oregon, underscore the risks of helium as a simple asphyxiant, yet its unique properties make it indispensable for deep diving, where helium-oxygen mixtures reduce the effects of narcosis and the effort of breathing at extreme depths.
The Cooling of the Cosmos
The largest single use of liquid helium is to cool the superconducting magnets in modern MRI scanners, consuming about a quarter of global production, while the Large Hadron Collider at CERN uses 96 metric tons to maintain temperatures at 1.9 Kelvin. Helium's low boiling point and high thermal conductivity make it the only substance capable of reaching the extreme cold required for superconductivity, enabling the operation of particle accelerators and medical imaging devices. In scientific research, the behavior of helium-4 and helium-3 near absolute zero allows physicists to study quantum mechanics, superfluidity, and superconductivity, phenomena that occur when matter behaves according to the laws of quantum mechanics on a macroscopic scale. The gas is also used as a protective atmosphere for arc welding, in the growth of silicon wafers for computer chips, and as a carrier gas in gas chromatography, proving that its utility extends far beyond the colorful balloons that make it famous to the general public.
The Vanishing Resource
Helium is a non-renewable resource on Earth because once released into the atmosphere, it promptly escapes into space, making its supply rapidly diminishing despite the vast quantities found in the universe. The United States National Helium Reserve, once the world's largest supplier, was sold off to the Messer Group on the 27th of June 2024, after being depleted and auctioned over three years, leaving the world to rely on new plants in Qatar, Russia, and the United States. Conservation advocates argue that the free market price has led to wasteful usage, with Nobel laureate Robert Coleman Richardson suggesting the price needs to be multiplied by 20 to eliminate excessive consumption. As helium production in Qatar was severely affected by the 2017 diplomatic crisis and new plants in Wyoming and China struggle to meet demand, the world faces a future where the gas essential for modern technology, medicine, and space exploration may become scarce, forcing a reevaluation of how humanity uses the second most abundant element in the cosmos.