2. History
• Helium was discovered by Sir William
Ramsay in London, and by N. A. Langley
and P. T. Cleve in Sweden. Both occurred
in 1895.
• Helium was named after Helios, the greek
word for “Sun.”
3. Properties
• At STP, Helium is a colorless, gaseous
element.
• Helium melts at -272.2°C and boils at -
268.9°C and has a density of 0.17 g/L.
• Because it is less dense than air, it is often
used in blimps and other balloons that
need a floating gas.
4. Isotopes
• 3He and 4He are the only stable isotopes.
• The longest living radioactive isotope is
6He but it’s half-life is less than a second.
• There are no apparent uses for the
radioactive isotope.
5. Availability
• Helium is found as a trace element in the
air, but mostly trapped in rocks and
minerals in the earth.
• Helium is obtained as a byproduct of
refining natural gas.
• In 2007, the price for crude helium was
$2.12 per cubic meter.
6. Uses
• Helium can be used for cryogenics,
pressurizing, welding, leak finding, scuba
diving or other air mixtures, and my most
well known: filling balloons.
7. Major compounds
• There are no known compounds
containing helium, as it is a noble gas and
very inert.
8. Fun facts
• Helium was once thought to be a metal.
• Helium never freezes.
• No helium exists naturally within the
human body.
• When inhaled, a person’s voice can be
made really squeaky.
• Helium is one of the most important
elements that NASA uses.
• Since helium is a colorless gas, there are
no pictures of it I could provide.
