What is helium? Detailed answer

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What is helium? Detailed answer

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What is helium?

The discovery of helium is like a science detective! In 1886, Sir Norman Lockyer, an English scientist, studied the Sun with a spectroscope. This device allows you to detect the presence of individual elements, since each chemical element corresponds to a certain line of the spectrum.

An unknown line appeared in the spectrum, and it could only correspond to a new element, still unknown on Earth! The new element was named "helium" - from the Greek word "Helios", which means the sun.

Then scientists began to search for this element on Earth. Over time, as a result of many experiments, it was discovered that helium is present in our atmosphere. But its quantity is so small that for 247 cubic meters of air there is only one cubic meter of helium!

As a result of other experiments, it was determined that helium is released from radium and that during the release of various particles, so-called "alpha particles" are formed - helium atoms, which have a high speed of movement.

Helium proved to be a very useful gas. It is very light and has great lifting power. Since it is not flammable, it is very advantageous to use it in airships, both military and civilian, in meteorological probes, etc.

Realizing the importance of helium, the US government began looking for natural sources of helium. Some parts of the United States, such as Texas, New Mexico, and Kansas, produce natural gas. It turned out that this gas contains 1-2% helium.

Since there were no other sources for helium production, the US is the only country in the world that has enough helium! Initially, the cost of one cubic meter of this gas was $70, today this price is many times less.

Do you know that helium is also used in medicine? It helps asthma patients. In addition, divers and those working at great depths are given a breathing mixture consisting of helium and oxygen to avoid getting "caisson sickness"!

Author: Likum A.

Random interesting fact from the Great Encyclopedia:

How does hair grow?

Did you know that both hair and nails have the same origin? They grow from the stratum corneum of our skin. Hair develops when part of this skin enters the lower layer and takes root there. Then it makes its way up through the layers of the skin and out. There are four different layers of cells in the hair roots. They divide, multiply and push the hair shaft through the skin.

As they move, the hair cells turn into a keratinous substance, resembling the outer layer of the skin. On the outer surface of the hair, the cells become flat and stacked one on top of the other like cobblestones. Near the root cells are large, round fat cells that contain the substances needed to build hair. By the way, the hair root seems to be "screwed" into this tissue. It cannot be pulled out. So when you pull out a hair, you are not pulling out its root.

Your hair grows at a rate of about 12 millimeters per month. And the surprising thing is that they grow at different rates at different times. Hair grows very slowly at night, in the morning their growth accelerates, in the evening it slows down, and then they grow again faster. The hair on a man's head lives three to five years, while a woman's hair has a lifespan of up to seven years. And your eyelashes only live for about six months! In total, on the body of an adult, there are from 300 to 500 thousand hairs.

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Vaccination against hypertension 25.10.2008

Blood pressure in humans is regulated by several compounds found in the body, including the small protein angiotensin, which, when broken down by a specific enzyme, causes blood vessels to constrict. This causes the pressure to rise.

Swiss immunologists attached a harmless part of the shell of one of the viruses to the angiotensin molecule. As a result, the immune system of a person who has been injected with such molecules begins to perceive angiotensin as a virus, synthesizes antibodies against it and removes part of this protein from the blood (all angiotensin does not need to be neutralized, it is necessary for the normal functioning of blood vessels).

In the experiment, it was possible to reduce the pressure in 48 volunteers by 13-25 millimeters of mercury. True, antibodies against angiotensin remain in the body for only 17 weeks, so the injections have to be repeated.

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