Why is this element important in everyday life?
Helium was very hard to discover because it doesn't react with any other elements. It is very important because it is used in weather balloons, which we need to predict our weather. Besides, what would a party be like without helium balloons?!
Where is this element found in nature?
In 1868 it was discovered as a new line in the sun's spectrum. Around 30 years later, Ramsey discovered it in a uranium ore. Today, terrestrial helium is a result from radioactive decay that is recovered from natural gas.
What are the properties of the element?
General Characteristics =
Helium is a colorless, odorless gas, and therefor a nonmetal. Since it is a noble gas, it does not react with any other elements and therefore does not create any compounds.
Atomic Symbol = He
Period Number = 1
Group Number and Family Name =group 18, the noble gases
Atomic Number = 2
Atomic Mass =4.003u
Density = .1785 g/l
Melting Point = -272.2 degrees C
Boiling Point = -268.9 degrees C
Electron Configuration =1s2
Shorthand Notation = none
Common Reactions = nonreactive
Interesting Information =
Helium is an extremely lightweight, nonreactive, plentiful, and inexpensive gas. It makes up .00052 percent of our atmosphere at sea level. It's melting point and boiling points are the lowest of any other element. It diffuses readily through most materials including glass. Helium is also used in synthetic breathing gases for deep-sea divers. Helium is also used to pressurize and stiffen the structure of rockets before takeoff. It is used in inert-gas arc welding for light metals such as aluminum and magnesium alloys as well.
Who is ?
Living in a line on the sun spectrum is Heather Elven, also known as He. She is known by her peers for being a spoiled brat. She doesn't like to share anything! She doesn't mean to be this way, in fact she's a perfectly harmless, happy element! Even though she is invisible to the rest of the world, she still has her eight best friends. Their clique is known by everyone as the Noble Gases.
On one sweltering hot, July day, which is normal for being on the sun, Heather taking her pet named John Jacob Jingle Heimer Schmidt, JJ for short, for a walk and singing her favorite song "The Song That Never Ends." She does this all of the time because it is her favorite thing to do. All of a sudden, while Pierre Janssen was walking his pet named Melvin, he heard Heather sing and he discovered her. He told her that he wanted her to sing in a show that night at this club that he owned called "The PT." He told her that all of the "cool" elements hung out there. Pierre said that he was surprised to even discover her since she didn't have many friends and she didn't really stand out compared to some of the other more popular elements. He tried to make her more appealing to the rest of the world by placing her in a band, but she decided not to join because she didn't want to share her amazing talent. Her agent said "Fine then! Find another career!!!" So helium left the studio feeling embarrassed and alone.
Since she was so depressed, she went to see Dr. Einstein, who was a therapist from her hometown, to see if he could help her find some uses for herself. He said that since she was such an airhead, she would be good at helping set balloons afloat. He also gave her the choice of being part of Earth's atmosphere, which was a huge honor. So, she decided to take both of these jobs and maybe find some more. Heather does not ask for a lot of money for her services since there is so much of her to go around. She spent many, many years juggling her time with these two jobs. Since she was doing the same thing for such a long time she started to get bored going to work. Heather has always had the dream to go to Earth and join the NASA space program. So, she decided to leave her two other jobs for her other helium friends and begin to find her way to Earth. Sir William Ramsey discovered her on Earth in 1895. Many years later she decided to begin pursuing her dream and go into outer space. Her boss at NASA put her in charge of looking over the hydrogen and maintaining the pressure in the fuel tank. She now loves her job and could never imagine leaving it behind like the other two, but hey, life goes on and someday you may discover helium doing another odd job somewhere in this never-ending universe!!
