Who discovered helium on earth. Where was helium first discovered? Inert, but very necessary helium

Back in 1869, in the first report on the periodic law, Mendeleev, speaking about the directions in which to search for the “bricks of the universe” that had not yet been discovered, indirectly indicated the likelihood of the existence of helium. He wrote: “If I can express a wish, looking at the attached table, it seems to me that it is most desirable to replenish the number of elements closer to hydrogen. Those elements that represent the transition from hydrogen to boron and carbon will, of course, constitute the most important scientific acquisition that one can expect from acquaintance with the newly discovered simple bodies.

Around the same time, astronomers discovered in the atmosphere of the Sun. There were several reasons why this discovery went unnoticed or unappreciated by chemists for quite some time. First, the reality of the existence of the new was questioned; secondly, the event took place in an astronomical world far away from chemists, and finally, some people thought that if such a substance exists, it is too far from the Earth and earthly interests.

The roots of this astronomical event are easy to trace. It was generated by the discovery, which in 1860 became known to the scientific world, when the German scientists G. Kirchhoff and R. Bunsen published their famous article “ Chemical analysis by observing the spectrum. This discovery gave natural scientists a powerful tool for studying the qualitative composition of any object - close or distant - if only its light could reach the eyes of the observer. It became possible to detect the presence of very small quantities not only on the globe, but also beyond its borders in the hot atmosphere of the Sun and other celestial bodies thousands of light years distant from the Earth.

The use of spectral analysis has yielded abundant results. During only the first two years following the discovery of a new method, Bunsen discovered in minerals with a spectroscope and then isolated new elements from them - and, Crookes found in pyrite cinders, and the German scientists Reich and Richter -.

So brilliant was the first stage of the application of spectral analysis. In the XX century. his powers have expanded enormously. It has become a method of not only qualitative but also quantitative analysis, a method for determining the atomic and molecular composition of substances. Based on the study of the spectra, they now judge the physical state of the heavenly bodies and their remoteness from the Earth, determine the brightness of the stars, their surface temperature, the density of the stellar atmosphere, and much more. But perhaps the most profound important application, found spectral analysis in the study of the finest details in the structure of the electron shells of atoms, in the knowledge of the laws of the microworld.

One can understand the impatience with which astronomers expected the total solar eclipse of 1868. They were going to use the spectroscope for the first time to study the atmosphere of the Sun and resolve important question: do solar prominences exist and what is their nature?

Prominences are called red luminous protrusions (torches) on the edges of the solar disk, visible to the naked eye only during a total eclipse. Oddly enough, these gigantic torches were first noticed only in 1842 by the English astronomer Boyley. His message was received with great skepticism; the prevailing opinion was that there was an optical illusion. But subsequent total eclipses in 1851, and especially in 1860, forced most scientists to reconsider their positions. Astronomers who came to Spain in 1860 were able to see the fiery ledges with their own eyes, some even managed to sketch them, photograph them and notice that they constantly change their outlines.

There have been various conjectures regarding the nature of this phenomenon. Some believed that these were lunar mountains illuminated by the rays of the sun. Others were inclined to see them as mountains on the Sun itself. But the most astute of scientists have declared that these are gigantic columns of hot gases ejected by explosions of monstrous force occurring inside the Sun. Here the newly invented spectroscope would be of great help, but it so happened that in preparation for the observation it was forgotten and remembered only after the eclipse.

On the other hand, during the eclipse of 1868, astronomers at various points on the globe were already pointing spectroscopes at the Sun. Among the observers was the Frenchman Jansen, who, for this purpose, undertook a long trip to the east coast of India, where the visibility of the solar corona promised to be the best. On the same day, he sent a telegram from the Indian town of Guntur to the French Academy of Sciences: “There was an eclipse, prominences, a wonderful unexpected spectrum. Prominences are made up of gases.”

Jansen managed to adjust the slit of the spectroscope in such a way that the line spectrum of the solar corona could be observed not only during an eclipse, but also on ordinary days. The next morning, he noticed in the spectrum of the corona, along with the familiar lines of hydrogen - blue, green-blue and red - a very bright yellow line. This line was also seen by some other astronomers on the day of the eclipse. At first, it was taken for the D sodium line, since they were similar in color and location.

But after a couple of months, Jansen and the Englishman Lockyer found that the bright yellow line in the solar spectrum does not coincide with the sodium line, and in general there is no such line in the spectra of elements known on our planet. Subsequently, she was assigned the symbol D3.

Without delay, Jansen sent a letter to the Academy, where he outlined his observations and described new method spectroscopic study, available at any time. It took a long time to send a letter from distant India and arrived in Paris only on October 24, 1868. On the same day, but a few hours earlier, the Academy also received a letter from London, written only four days earlier by Lockyer. This astronomer also discovered a way to observe prominences outside an eclipse and also found the yellow line D3; its brightness is so great that it would be difficult not to notice it.

The next day, both letters were read at a meeting of the Academy. Two messages from different parts of the world were in complete agreement with each other. A method has been discovered that allows you to begin penetrating the secrets of cosmic bodies! The French Academy decided to mint a medal in honor of the outstanding event. On one side of the medal, portraits of Jean-sen and Lockyer were carved over crossed laurel branches, and on the other, an image of the mythical sun god Apollo, ruling in a chariot with four horses galloping at full speed. The inscription winds around the edge of the medal: "Analysis of solar protrusions of 1868."

It must be emphasized that it was in honor of the new method of studying prominences and distant luminaries, and not in honor of the discovery of a new element, that the medal was struck. The question of which substance corresponds to the line "D3" remained unresolved for a long time.

A year later, Rayet suggested that the incandescent gas, the rays of which give a mysterious yellow line, together with hydrogen, constitutes the solar atmosphere. Two more years passed, and Lockyer (jointly with Frankland) called this substance helium, but he himself was not sure that this was really a new simple substance, and not some kind of metal or a form of hydrogen not found on Earth. Other scientists have hypothesized that this is the heavy formula H4. The Italian Secchi, apparently, was the first to dare to conclude that there is an element on the Sun that is unknown on Earth. All knowledge of astronomers about the nature and properties of helium was exhausted by the idea of ​​the features of its spectrum. This knowledge allowed them, however, to detect a number of stars in the atmosphere.

As for scientists of other specialties, they were little interested in helium, since no one met it on Earth.

In 1881 in scientific world an event occurred - insignificant in essence, but gave rise to fierce disputes that have not ended to this day. That year, the Italian Palmieri published a report on his discovery of helium in volcanic gases (fumaroles). This was the first indication of the presence of helium on Earth.

Palmieri examined a light yellow solid oily substance that settled from gas jets on the edges of the crater of Vesuvius. The scientist calcined this volcanic product in the flame of a Bunsen burner and observed the spectrum of gases released.

However, Palmieri described his experience vaguely, performing spectral analysis under such conditions was extremely difficult, so the scientific community greeted his message with distrust. And only many years later, when the presence of helium in the gases of the earth's crust was recognized as an indisputable fact, they began to study the composition of fumaroles and found very small amounts of helium and argon in them.

Meanwhile, Rayleigh and Ramsay continued to study what they had discovered. In January 1895, scientists made a report to the English Royal Society about unsuccessful attempts to obtain chemical compounds of argon with other elements. Mineralogist Myers listened to their performance. He remembered an article by the analytical chemist Hillebrand, who specialized in the analysis of minerals and rocks and therefore published his article in a geological journal, which chemists rarely looked at. An article written four years ago reported similar experiments with gas isolated from the mineral uranite (tar blende) by boiling with sulfuric acid or melting with soda. Even then, the author drew attention to the fact that the amount of released gas is directly dependent on the uranium content in the mineral. Gillebrand concluded that the gas he discovered was . After all, the gas was colorless, tasteless and odorless, did not dissolve in water and did not oxidize.

The next morning, Myers sent a letter to Ramsay, in which he drew his attention to the mentioned article and advised him to find out: perhaps Hillebrand was dealing not with nitrogen, but with argon?

Upon receiving the letter, Ramsay sent his assistants to buy uranium. Bypassing all the London chemical stores, they were able to collect about 30 g of cleveite - a rare mineral containing, and. Kleveite was found in Norway by the famous polar explorer Nordenskjöld.

Ramsay boiled the samples in dilute sulfuric acid for a long time, collecting the emerging bubbles in a gas meter. In March, he collected 20 cm3 of colorless gas. Ramsay transferred the gas into a glass tube, narrow in the middle and widened at the ends, and soldered it by inserting platinum wires into the ends. When passing electric current the gas in the tube is ionized; thermal excitation of atoms also took place, as a result of which the gas was radiant, and its spectrum could be observed.

Of course, Ramsay was very pleased to see the blue, orange and green lines he expected, which are characteristic of the argon spectrum, but let's say right away that here he fell into a mistake, which he realized only later. penetrated the tube from the air during the preparation of the experiment. And so, observing the spectrum of argon, the scientist was shocked; he saw a brilliant yellow line, which almost coincided in position with the sodium D line, but still clearly differed from it. This line was so unexpected that Ramsay repeated the observations several times. But there was no doubt that some new substance was present in the tube.

Crookes, an outstanding spectroscopist of that time, lived in London. Ramsay sent him his tube of gas for detailed examination. In a cover letter, he said that he had discovered a new gas, which he gave the name "krypton" (Greek for "hidden"). Crookes made an analysis that same evening and telegraphed the following morning: "Krypton is a dot, come see the dot." And when Ramsay arrived, Crookes showed him not only the D3 line, but also a number of other lines in the helium spectrum - red, blue, violet, which, being less bright, astronomers could not distinguish in the spectrum of the Sun. Moreover, the D3 line itself turned out to consist of two closely spaced lines; this subsequently caused many scientists to doubt the identity of "terrestrial" and "solar" helium. However, a little time passed, and astronomers, using spectroscopes of higher resolution, found exactly the same double line in the spectrum of the solar prominence. So astrophysical observations were corrected when studied on Earth.

The last century was marked by the discovery of many chemical elements, but there were also many erroneous "discoveries". Usually, each discoverer sought to establish his priority as soon as possible. So did Ramsay. On the same day (March 23, 1895) he sent a message about his discovery of helium on Earth to the Royal Society, as well as to the French Academy through the famous chemist Berthelot. And two weeks later, Berthelot received a similar message from the Swedish chemist Lenglet; not knowing about Ramsay's experiments, Lenglet also obtained helium from kleveite.

Soon, helium was discovered in a number of minerals and rocks, especially in those where or is present (the relationship between these elements and helium became clear much later). Helium was also found in the gases of the Vilbad springs in Germany and in individual meteorites.

Having very little helium at his disposal, Ramsay nevertheless found that this gas is chemically inert, like , and second only to hydrogen in lightness.

But as soon as helium is present in the earth's crust, it must constantly enter the atmosphere, escaping there with gases from water sources, as well as through the pores and cracks of rocks. The first attempts to find it in the air, made by Rayleigh, Ramsay and other researchers, were unsuccessful. In this regard, statements have appeared that, due to its lightness, helium, like

Helium is the second ordinal element of the periodic system of chemical elements of D. I. Mendeleev, with atomic number 2. Located in the main subgroup of the eighth group, the first period periodic system. Heads the group of inert gases in the periodic table. It is designated by the symbol He (lat. Helium). The simple substance helium (CAS number: 7440-59-7) is an inert monatomic gas without color, taste or smell. Helium is one of the most abundant elements in the universe, second only to hydrogen. Helium is also the second lightest (after hydrogen) chemical element. Helium is extracted from natural gas by a low-temperature separation process - the so-called fractional distillation

On August 18, 1868, the French scientist Pierre Jansen, while in full solar eclipse in the Indian city of Guntur, first explored the chromosphere of the Sun. Jansen managed to adjust the spectroscope in such a way that the spectrum of the solar corona could be observed not only during an eclipse, but also on ordinary days. The very next day, spectroscopy of solar prominences, along with hydrogen lines - blue, green-blue and red - revealed a very bright yellow line, initially taken by Jansen and other astronomers who observed it for the sodium D line. Jansen immediately wrote about this to the French Academy of Sciences. Subsequently, it was found that the bright yellow line in the solar spectrum does not coincide with the sodium line and does not belong to any of the previously known chemical elements.

Two months later, on October 20, the English astronomer Norman Lockyer, not knowing about the developments of his French colleague, also conducted research on the solar spectrum. Having discovered an unknown yellow line with a wavelength of 588 nm (more precisely 587.56 nm), he designated it D3, since it was very close to the Fraunhofer lines D 1 (589.59 nm) and D 2 (588.99 nm) sodium. Two years later, Lockyer, together with the English chemist Edward Frankland, in collaboration with whom he worked, proposed giving the new element the name "helium" (from other Greek ἥλιος - "sun").

Interestingly, the letters of Jansen and Lockyer arrived at the French Academy of Sciences on the same day - October 24, 1868, but Lockyer's letter, written four days earlier, arrived several hours earlier. The next day, both letters were read at a meeting of the Academy. In honor of the new method for studying prominences, the French Academy decided to mint a medal. On one side of the medal, portraits of Jansen and Lockyer were carved over crossed laurel branches, and on the other, an image of the mythical sun god Apollo, ruling in a chariot with four horses galloping at full speed.

In 1881, the Italian Luigi Palmieri published a report on the discovery of helium in volcanic gases (fumaroles). He examined a light yellow oily substance that settled from gas jets on the edges of the crater of Vesuvius. Palmieri calcined this volcanic product in the flame of a Bunsen burner and observed the spectrum of gases released during this. The scientific community greeted this message with disbelief, since Palmieri described his experience vaguely. Many years later, small amounts of helium and argon were indeed found in the fumaroles.

Only 27 years after its initial discovery, helium was discovered on Earth - in 1895, the Scottish chemist William Ramsay, examining a sample of gas obtained from the decomposition of the mineral cleveite, found in its spectrum the same bright yellow line found earlier in the solar spectrum. The sample was sent for additional study to the famous English spectroscopy scientist William Crookes, who confirmed that the yellow line observed in the spectrum of the sample coincides with the D3 line of helium. On March 23, 1895, Ramsay sent a message about his discovery of helium on Earth to the Royal Society of London, as well as to the French Academy, through the famous chemist Marcelin Berthelot.

In 1896, Heinrich Kaiser, Siegbert Friedländer, and two years later Edward Bailey finally proved the presence of helium in the atmosphere.

Even before Ramsay, helium was also isolated by the American chemist Francis Hillebrand, but he mistakenly believed that he had received nitrogen and in a letter to Ramsay recognized him as the discovery priority.
Investigating various substances and minerals, Ramsay discovered that helium in them accompanies uranium and thorium. But only much later, in 1906, Rutherford and Royds established that the alpha particles of radioactive elements are helium nuclei. These studies marked the beginning of the modern theory of the structure of the atom.

Only in 1908, the Dutch physicist Heike Kamerling-Onnes managed to obtain liquid helium by throttling (see the Joule-Thomson effect), after the gas was pre-cooled in liquid hydrogen boiling under vacuum. Attempts to obtain solid helium remained unsuccessful for a long time even at a temperature of 0.71 K, which was achieved by the student of Kamerling-Onnes, the German physicist Willem Hendrik Keesom. Only in 1926, by applying pressure above 35 atm and cooling compressed helium in liquid helium boiling under rarefaction, did he succeed in isolating crystals.

In 1932, Keesom investigated the nature of the change in the heat capacity of liquid helium with temperature. He found that around 2.19 K, the slow and gradual rise in heat capacity is replaced by a sharp drop, and the heat capacity curve takes the form of the Greek letter λ (lambda). Hence, the temperature at which the jump in heat capacity occurs is given the conditional name "λ-point". A more accurate temperature value at this point, established later, is 2.172 K. At the λ-point, deep and abrupt changes in the fundamental properties of liquid helium occur - one phase of liquid helium is replaced at this point by another, and without release of latent heat; a phase transition of the second order takes place. Above the temperature of the λ-point there is the so-called helium-I, and below it - helium-II.

In 1938, the Soviet physicist Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa discovered the phenomenon of superfluidity of liquid helium-II, which consists in sharp decline viscosity coefficient, as a result of which helium flows practically without friction. Here is what he wrote in one of his reports about the discovery of this phenomenon.

origin of name

From Greek. ἥλιος - "Sun" (see Helios). Curious is the fact that in the name of the element, the ending “-iy”, characteristic of metals, was used (in Latin “-um” - “Helium”), since Lockyer assumed that the element he discovered was a metal. By analogy with other noble gases, it would be logical to give it the name "Helion" ("Helion"). IN modern science The name "helion" was assigned to the nucleus of the light isotope of helium - helium-3.

Prevalence

In the Universe
Helium is the second most abundant in the Universe after hydrogen - about 23% by mass. However, helium is rare on Earth. Almost all the helium in the universe was formed in the first few minutes after the Big Bang, during the primary nucleosynthesis. In the modern Universe, almost all new helium is formed as a result of thermonuclear fusion from hydrogen in the interiors of stars (see proton-proton cycle, carbon-nitrogen cycle). On Earth, it is formed as a result of alpha decay of heavy elements (alpha particles emitted during alpha decay are helium-4 nuclei). Part of the helium that arose during alpha decay and seeps through the rocks of the earth's crust is captured by natural gas, the concentration of helium in which can reach 7% of the volume and above.

Earth's crust
Within the framework of the eighth group, helium ranks second in terms of content in the earth's crust (after argon). The helium content in the atmosphere (formed as a result of the decay of Ac, Th, U) is 5.27×10−4% by volume, 7.24×10−5% by mass. Helium reserves in the atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere are estimated at 5×1014 m³. Helium-bearing natural gases usually contain up to 2% helium by volume. Extremely rare are accumulations of gases, the helium content of which reaches 8 - 16%. The average content of helium in the terrestrial matter is 3 g/t. The highest concentration of helium is observed in minerals containing uranium, thorium and samarium: kleveite, fergusonite, samarskite, gadolinite, monazite (monazite sands in India and Brazil), thorianite. The helium content in these minerals is 0.8 - 3.5 l/kg, and in thorianite it reaches 10.5 l/kg

Definition

Qualitatively, helium is determined by analyzing emission spectra (characteristic lines 587.56 nm and 388.86 nm), quantitatively - by mass spectrometric and chromatographic methods of analysis, as well as methods based on measuring physical properties (density, thermal conductivity, etc.).

Chemical properties

Helium is the least chemically active element of the eighth group of the periodic table (inert gases). Many helium compounds exist only in the gas phase in the form of so-called excimer molecules, in which excited electronic states are stable and the ground state is unstable. Helium forms diatomic molecules He 2 +, fluoride HeF, chloride HeCl (excimer molecules are formed by the action of an electric discharge or ultraviolet radiation on a mixture of helium with fluorine or chlorine). The chemical compound of helium LiHe is known (possibly, the compound LiHe 7

Receipt

In industry, helium is obtained from helium-containing natural gases (at present, deposits containing > 0.1% helium are mainly exploited). Helium is separated from other gases by deep cooling, using the fact that it is more difficult to liquefy than all other gases. Cooling is carried out by throttling in several stages, cleaning it from CO 2 and hydrocarbons. The result is a mixture of helium, neon and hydrogen. This mixture, the so-called. raw helium, (He - 70-90% vol.) is purified from hydrogen (4-5%) with CuO at 650-800 K. Final purification is achieved by cooling the remaining mixture with N2 boiling under vacuum and adsorption of impurities on active carbon in adsorbers, also cooled by liquid N2. They produce helium of technical purity (99.80% by volume helium) and high purity (99.985%). In Russia, gaseous helium is obtained from natural and petroleum gases. Currently, helium is extracted at the helium plant of OOO Gazprom dobycha Orenburg in Orenburg from gas with a low helium content (up to 0.055% by volume), so Russian helium has a high cost. An urgent problem is the development and complex processing of natural gases from large deposits of Eastern Siberia with a high content of helium (0.15-1% vol.), which will significantly reduce its cost. The United States leads in helium production (140 million m³ per year), followed by Algeria (16 million m³). Russia ranks third in the world - 6 million m³ per year. The world reserves of helium amount to 45.6 billion m³.

On August 18, 1868, the French scientist Pierre Jansen, while during a total solar eclipse in the Indian city of Guntur, for the first time studied the chromosphere of the Sun - its outer shell. Jansen managed to adjust the spectroscope in such a way that the spectrum of the solar corona could be observed not only during an eclipse, but also on ordinary days. The very next day, studying prominences (masses of relatively cold matter that rise and are held above the surface of the Sun by a magnetic field), in the results of spectroscopy Jansen found not only blue, green-blue and red lines of hydrogen, but also a very bright yellow one, which the astronomer and his colleagues initially mistook for the sodium line.

Two months later, on October 20, the English astronomer Norman Lockyer, not knowing about the developments of his French colleague, also conducted research on the solar spectrum.

Finding an unknown yellow line with a wavelength of 588 nm, he designated it D3.

Jeansen and Lockyer's letters about the discovery of a new line of the solar spectrum arrived in French on the same day - October 24, 1868, but Lockyer's letter, written by him four days earlier, arrived several hours earlier. The next day, both letters were read at a meeting of the Academy. In honor of the new method for studying prominences, the French Academy decided to mint a medal. On one side of the medal, portraits of Jansen and Lockyer were carved over crossed laurel branches, and on the other, an image of the mythological god of light, Apollo, ruling in a chariot with four horses galloping at full speed.

Lockyer tried to recreate new spectral lines in the laboratory, but all his attempts ended in failure. Then he realized that he had discovered a new chemical element. Lockyer named it helium, from the Greek helios, "the sun."

The attitude of scientists to the discovery of helium was controversial. Some suggested that an error was made in interpreting the spectra of prominences, but this point of view received fewer and fewer supporters, as more and more astronomers were able to observe the Lockyer lines. Others argued that there were elements on the Sun that were not on the Earth, which contradicted the idea that all the laws of nature known to us at the present time were and will be in force always and in all points of the Universe. Still others (they were a minority) believed that someday helium would be found on Earth.

However, they were right. In 1895, the Scottish chemist William Ramsay, examining a sample of gas obtained from the decomposition of the mineral cleveite, discovered unknown lines in its spectrum and sent samples to several colleagues for analysis. Upon receiving the sample, Lockyer immediately recognized the lines he had observed in sunlight more than a quarter of a century ago. The riddle of helium has been solved: the gas is certainly in the Sun, but it also exists here on Earth.

Helium is the second most abundant element in the universe, accounting for 23% of the total cosmic mass.

However, it is rare on Earth. This element is one of the products of nuclear decay, so its source is the ores of radioactive elements.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the presence of helium in the Earth's atmosphere was finally proven. In 1906, physicists managed to obtain liquid helium, and in 1926, to achieve its crystallization. In 1938, a Soviet physicist discovered the phenomenon of superfluidity of liquid helium-II, which consists in a sharp decrease in the viscosity coefficient, as a result of which helium flows almost without friction.

In industry, helium is produced from helium-containing natural gases. Helium is separated from other gases by deep cooling, using the fact that it is more difficult to liquefy than all other gases.

Helium was first used in Germany. In 1915, the Germans began to fill their airships bombing London with it. Soon, light, but non-flammable gas became an indispensable filler for aeronautical vehicles. The decline of the airship industry, which began in the mid-1930s, led to a slight decline in helium production, but only for a short time. This gas increasingly attracted the attention of chemists, metallurgists and machine builders.

Today, helium is used in the food industry as a propellant and packaging gas, as a refrigerant for obtaining ultra-low temperatures, for filling balloons and weather probe shells, for filling filament flasks. LED lamps, which allows you to effectively remove heat from LED filaments, to search for leaks in pipelines and boilers, as a carrier in gas chromatography and in many other areas.

Liquid helium is widely used in scientific research and technology. Ultra-low temperatures favor in-depth knowledge of matter and its structure - with more high temperatures the subtle details of the energy spectra are masked by the thermal motion of the atoms.

Helio-oxygen mixtures have become a reliable means of preventing decompression sickness and have given a big gain in time when divers get up.

The solubility of gases in liquids, other things being equal, is directly proportional to pressure. Divers working under high pressure have much more nitrogen dissolved in their blood compared to normal conditions that exist on the surface of the water. When rising from a depth, when the pressure approaches normal, the solubility of nitrogen decreases, and its excess begins to be released. If the rise is made quickly, the release of excess dissolved gases occurs so violently that the blood and water-rich tissues of the body, saturated with gas, literally froth from the mass of nitrogen bubbles.

The formation of nitrogen bubbles in the blood vessels disrupts the functioning of the heart, their appearance in the brain disrupts its functions, all this leads to severe disorders of the body's vital functions and, as a result, to death. In order to prevent the development of the described phenomena, the rise of divers is very slow.

In this case, the excess of dissolved gases is released gradually, and no painful disorders occur. With the use of artificial air, in which nitrogen is replaced by less soluble helium, the possibility of harmful disorders is almost completely eliminated. This allows you to increase the depth of lowering divers (up to 100 meters or more) and the time spent under water.

"Helium" air has a density three times less than the density of ordinary air. Therefore, it is easier to breathe such air than usual (the work of the respiratory muscles decreases). This circumstance has importance with respiratory disease. Therefore, "helium" air is also used in medicine in the treatment of asthma, suffocation and other diseases.

In addition, helium is a convenient indicator for geologists.

With the help of helium imaging, it is possible to determine the location of deep faults on the Earth's surface. Helium, as a product of the decay of radioactive elements that saturate the upper layer of the earth's crust, seeps through cracks and rises into the atmosphere. Near such cracks, and especially at their intersections, the helium concentration is higher. This pattern is used to study the deep structure of the Earth and search for ores of non-ferrous and rare metals.

It does not lend itself to the laws of classical mechanics. Scientists are trying to unravel the mystery of helium-4. It is a light, non-radioactive isotope of the element. It actually accounts for 99.9% of the helium on Earth.

So, if the 4th isotope is cooled to -271 degrees Celsius, you get a liquid. Only now its properties are not typical for a liquid. For example, superfluidity is observed.

If placed helium into a vessel and place it vertically, the liquid will violate the laws of gravity. After a few minutes, the contents of the container will flow out of it. It also follows from this that helium is an element curious, and curiosity must be satisfied. Let's start with the properties of matter.

helium properties

Not. This is not a particle of negation, but the designation of the 2nd element of the periodic system, that is, helium. Gas in its normal state, it thickens only at sub-zero temperatures. Moreover, this minus should be a couple of hundred degrees Celsius.

At the same time, in helium gas properties insolubility in water is entered. That is, if itself is not, then its molecules are in one phase, without passing into others. Meanwhile, it is the change of phases of a substance that determines the formation of a solution.

Helium is an inert gas. Its inertness is manifested not only in the absence of a "desire" to dissolve in water. The substance is in no hurry to enter into other reactions. Reason: - stable outer shell of the atom.

It has 2 electrons. It is difficult to break a strong pair, that is, to remove one of the particles from the shell of an atom. Therefore, helium was discovered not in the course of chemical experiments, but in the spectroscopic study of prominences.

It happened in the second half of the 19th century. Other inert gases, and there are 6 of them, were discovered even later. Around the same time, that is, at the beginning of the 20th century, it was possible to convert helium into liquid form.

Helium is monatomic gas without taste and smell. This is also an expression of the element's inertia. He contacts only three "colleagues" according to the periodic table, -, and. The reaction itself will not start.

You need ultraviolet light, or current discharges. On the other hand, in order for helium to "escape" from a test tube, or another volumetric body, efforts are not needed. The 2nd element has the smallest adsorption, that is, the ability to concentrate on a plane or in a volume.

store helium gas in cylinders. They must be absolutely sealed. Otherwise, adsorption will play a trick on suppliers. The substance will seep through the smallest cracks. And if the cylinders are made of porous material, helium will go through it.

Helium gas density 7 times inferior to oxygen. The indicator of the latter is 1.3 kilograms per cubic meter. Helium has a density of only 0.2 kilos. Accordingly, the hero is easy. Molar mass of helium equals 4 grams per mole.

For comparison, the air as a whole has an indicator of 29 grams. It becomes clear why it is popular helium for balloons. The difference in the masses of the 2nd element and air is spent on lifting loads. Recall that a mole is equal to 22 liters. It turns out that 22 liters of helium are able to lift a 25-gram load. A cubic meter of gas will pull more than a kilogram.

Finally, we note that helium has excellent electrical conductivity. At least for gases. Among them, the 2nd is no longer in second, but in first place. But in terms of content on Earth, helium is not the leader. In the atmosphere of the planet of the hero of the article, millionths of a percent. So where does the gas come from? Fishing it out of the atmosphere is impractical.

Helium mining

Helium formula is a component not only of the atmosphere, but also of the natural. In different deposits, the content of the 2nd element also varies. In, for example, the deposits are richest in helium Far East and eastern Siberia.

However, gas fields in these regions are poorly developed. The 0.2-0.8 percent content of helium is spurring their development. So far, it is mined in only one field in the country. It is located in Orenburg, recognized as poor in helium. However, 5,000,000 cubic meters of gas are produced per year.

The global production of helium per year is 175,000,000 cubic meters. At the same time, gas reserves are 41 billion cubic meters. Most of them are hidden in the bowels of Algeria, Qatar and the United States. also included in the list.

Helium is obtained from natural gas by low-temperature condensation. It turns out a concentrate of the 2nd element with its content of at least 80%. Another 20% are argon, neon, methane, and nitrogen. What gas is helium hinders? No. But, impurities interfere with people. Therefore, the concentrate is purified by turning 80% of the 2nd element into 100%.

The problem is that we also have 100% certainty that the planet will face a shortage of helium. By 2030, global gas consumption should reach 300,000,000 cubic meters.

Helium production in 10 years will not be able to cross the bar of 240,000,000 due to a shortage of raw materials. It is an irreplaceable resource. The second is released bit by bit during the decay of radioactive rocks.

The speed of natural production cannot keep up with the needs of the people. Therefore, experts predict a sharp jump in helium. So far, the low is being depreciated by the sale of the US reserve fund, which has become unprofitable for the country to maintain.

The national reserve was created at the beginning of the last century in order to fill military airships and commercial aircraft. The repository is located in Texas.

Helium application

You can find helium in rocket fuel tanks. There the 2nd is adjacent to liquid hydrogen. Only helium, at the same time, is able to remain gaseous, which means that it can create the necessary pressure in the engine tanks.

Filling balloons is another thing that comes in handy helium gas. Carbonic, for example, it will not work, because it is heavy. lighter than helium just one gas, it's hydrogen. Only here, it is explosive.

At the beginning of the last century, the Hindenburg airship was filled with hydrogen and saw how it ignited during the flight. It has since been made in favor of the inert, albeit slightly heavier, helium.

Helium is also popular as a cooling agent. The application is associated with the ability of the gas to generate ultra-low temperatures. Helium is purchased for hadron colliders and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers. The 2nd element is used in the same way in MRI machines. There, helium is pumped into superconductors.

Many have had an MRI. Close to the mass consumer and scanners at the checkout, reading bar codes. So, helium and neon are pumped into shop lasers. Separately, helium is placed in ion microscopes. They give a better picture than electronic ones, one might say, they also read data.

In air conditioning systems, the 2nd is needed to diagnose leaks. The super-permeability of the hero of the article comes in handy. If it finds where to leak, then other components may “leak”.

We are talking about car air conditioning systems. By the way, airbags are also filled with helium. It seeps into the saving containers faster than other gases.

helium price

For now, on helium gas price equals approximately 1,300 rubles per one and a half cubic meters. They hold 10 liters of the 2nd element. There are cylinders and 40 liters. That's almost 6 cubic meters of helium. The price tag for 40-liter packages is approximately 4,500.

By the way, for greater tightness, protective covers are put on gas cylinders. They also cost, usually, about 300 rubles for a 40-liter container and 150 rubles for 10-liter cylinders.

Helium(He) is an inert gas, which is the second element of the periodic system of elements, as well as the second element in terms of lightness and prevalence in the Universe. It belongs to simple substances and under standard conditions (Standard temperature and pressure) is a monatomic gas.

Helium has no taste, color, smell and does not contain toxins.

Among all simple substances, helium has the lowest boiling point (T = 4.216 K). At atmospheric pressure, it is impossible to obtain solid helium, even at temperatures close to absolute zero - to go into a solid form, helium needs a pressure above 25 atmospheres. There are few chemical compounds of helium and all of them are unstable under standard conditions.
Naturally occurring helium is made up of two stable isotopes– He and 4He. The “He” isotope is very rare (isotopic abundance 0.00014%) with 99.99986% for the 4He isotope. In addition to natural, 6 artificial radioactive isotopes of helium are also known.
The appearance of almost everything in the Universe, helium, was the primary nucleosynthesis that took place in the first minutes after the Big Bang.
At present, almost all helium It is formed from hydrogen as a result of thermonuclear fusion occurring in the interior of stars. On our planet, helium is formed in the process of alpha decay of heavy elements. That part of the helium that manages to seep through the Earth's crust comes out as part of natural gas and can be up to 7% of its composition. What to highlight helium from natural gas, fractional distillation is used - the process of low-temperature separation of elements.

The history of the discovery of helium

On August 18, 1868, a total solar eclipse was expected. Astronomers around the world have been actively preparing for this day. They hoped to solve the mystery of prominences - luminous projections visible at the time of a total solar eclipse along the edges of the solar disk. Some astronomers believed that prominences are high lunar mountains, which, at the time of a total solar eclipse, are illuminated by the rays of the Sun; others thought that the prominences were mountains on the Sun itself; still others saw fiery clouds of the solar atmosphere in the solar projections. The majority believed that prominences were nothing more than an optical illusion.

In 1851, during a solar eclipse observed in Europe, the German astronomer Schmidt not only saw solar projections, but also managed to discern that their outlines change over time. Based on his observations, Schmidt concluded that prominences are incandescent gas clouds ejected into the solar atmosphere by giant eruptions. However, even after Schmidt's observations, many astronomers still considered fiery ledges to be an optical illusion.

Only after the total eclipse of July 18, 1860, which was observed in Spain, when many astronomers saw the solar projections with their own eyes, and the Italian Secchi and the Frenchman Dellar managed not only to sketch, but also photograph them, no one had any doubts about the existence of prominences .

By 1860, a spectroscope had already been invented - a device that makes it possible, by observing the visible part of the optical spectrum, to determine the qualitative composition of the body from which the observed spectrum is obtained. However, on the day of the solar eclipse, none of the astronomers used a spectroscope to view the spectrum of prominences. The spectroscope was remembered when the eclipse had already ended.

That is why, preparing for the solar eclipse of 1868, every astronomer included a spectroscope in the list of instruments for observation. Jules Jansen, a famous French scientist, did not forget this device when he went to India to observe prominences, where the conditions for observing a solar eclipse, according to astronomers' calculations, were the best.

At the moment when the sparkling disk of the Sun was completely covered by the Moon, Jules Jansen, examining with a spectroscope the orange-red flames escaping from the surface of the Sun, saw in the spectrum, in addition to three familiar lines of hydrogen: red, green-blue and blue, a new, unfamiliar - bright yellow. None of the substances known to chemists of that time had such a line in the part of the spectrum where Jules Jansen discovered it. The same discovery, but at home in England, was made by astronomer Norman Lockyer.

On October 25, 1868, the Paris Academy of Sciences received two letters. One, written the day after the solar eclipse, came from Guntur, a small town on the east coast of India, from Jules Janssen; another letter dated 20 October 1868 was from England from Norman Lockyer.

The received letters were read out at a meeting of professors of the Paris Academy of Sciences. In them, Jules Jansen and Norman Lockyer, independently of each other, reported the discovery of the same "solar substance". This new substance, found on the surface of the Sun using a spectroscope, Lockyer proposed to call helium from the Greek word for "sun" - "helios".

Such a coincidence surprised the scientific meeting of professors of the Academies and at the same time testified to the objective nature of the discovery of a new chemical. In honor of the discovery of the substance of solar torches (prominences), a medal was knocked out. On one side of this medal, portraits of Jansen and Lockyer are engraved, and on the other, an image of the ancient Greek sun god Apollo in a chariot drawn by four horses. Under the chariot was an inscription on French: "Analysis of solar prominences on August 18, 1868."

In 1895, the London chemist Henry Myers drew the attention of William Ramsay, the famous English physical chemist, to the then forgotten article of the geologist Hildebrand. In this article, Hildebrand argued that some rare minerals, when heated in sulfuric acid, emit a gas that does not burn and does not support combustion. Among these rare minerals was kleveite, found in Norway by Nordenskiöld, the famous Swedish explorer of the polar regions.

Ramsay decided to investigate the nature of the gas contained in kleveite. In all the chemical stores in London, Ramsay's assistants managed to buy only ... one gram of slander, paying only 3.5 shillings for it. Having isolated several cubic centimeters of gas from the amount of cleveite obtained and purified it from impurities, Ramsay examined it with a spectroscope. The result was unexpected: the gas released from kleveite turned out to be ... helium!

Not trusting his discovery, Ramsay turned to William Crookes, the then leading specialist in spectral analysis in London, with a request to investigate the gas released from cleveite.

Crookes investigated the gas. The result of the study confirmed Ramsay's discovery. Thus, on March 23, 1895, a substance was discovered on Earth that had been found on the Sun 27 years earlier. On the same day, Ramsay published his discovery, sending one message to the Royal Society of London and another to the famous French chemist Academician Berthelot. In a letter to Berthelot, Ramsay asked to inform the scientific meeting of professors of the Paris Academy about his discovery.

Fifteen days after Ramsay, independently of him, the Swedish chemist Langley isolated helium from kleveite and, like Ramsay, reported his discovery of helium to the chemist Berthelot.

For the third time, helium was discovered in the air, where, according to Ramsay, it should have come from rare minerals (kleveite, etc.) during destruction and chemical transformations on Earth.

Small amounts of helium were also found in the water of some mineral springs. So, for example, it was found by Ramsay in the healing spring Cotret in the Pyrenees, the English physicist John William Rayleigh found it in the waters of the springs in the famous resort of Bath, the German physicist Kaiser discovered helium in the springs gushing in the mountains of the Black Forest. However, most of all helium was found in some minerals. It is found in samarskite, fergusonite, columbite, monazite, and uranit. The mineral thorianite from the island of Ceylon contains a particularly large amount of helium. A kilogram of thorianite, when heated red-hot, releases 10 liters of helium.

It was soon established that helium is found only in those minerals that contain radioactive uranium and thorium. The alpha rays emitted by some radioactive elements are nothing more than the nuclei of helium atoms.

From the history...

Its unusual properties make it possible to widely use helium for a variety of purposes. The first, absolutely logical, based on its ease, is the use in balloons and airships. Moreover, unlike hydrogen, it is not explosive. This property of helium was used by the Germans in the First World War on combat airships. The disadvantage of using it is that a helium-filled airship will not fly as high as a hydrogen one.

For the bombardment of large cities, mainly the capitals of England and France, the German command in the First World War used airships (zeppelins). Hydrogen was used to fill them. Therefore, the fight against them was relatively simple: an incendiary projectile that fell into the shell of the airship ignited hydrogen, which instantly flared up and the apparatus burned out. Of the 123 airships built in Germany during the First World War, 40 burned out from incendiary shells. But one day the general staff of the British army was surprised by a message of particular importance. Direct hits of incendiary shells on the German zeppelin did not produce results. The airship did not burst into flames, but slowly flowing out of some unknown gas, flew back.

Military experts were perplexed and, despite an urgent and detailed discussion of the issue of the non-flammability of the zeppelin from incendiary projectiles, they could not find the necessary explanation. The riddle was solved by the English chemist Richard Threlfall. In a letter to the British Admiralty, he wrote: "... I believe that the Germans invented some way to extract helium in large quantities, and this time they filled the shell of their zeppelin not with hydrogen, as usual, but with helium ..."

The persuasiveness of Threlfall's arguments, however, was reduced by the fact that there were no significant sources of helium in Germany. True, helium is contained in the air, but it is not enough there: one cubic meter of air contains only 5 cubic centimeters of helium. Refrigeration machine Linde's system, which turns several hundred cubic meters of air into liquid in one hour, could produce no more than 3 liters of helium during this time.

3 liters of helium per hour! And to fill the zeppelin, you need 5÷6 thousand cubic meters. m. To obtain such an amount of helium, one Linde machine had to work without stopping for about two hundred years, two hundred such machines would give the required amount of helium in one year. The construction of 200 plants for converting air into liquid to produce helium is economically very unprofitable, and practically meaningless.

Where did German chemists get helium from?

This issue, as it turned out later, was resolved relatively simply. Long before the war, German steamship companies shipping goods to India and Brazil were instructed to load returning steamships not with ordinary ballast, but with monazite sand, which contains helium. Thus, a reserve of "helium raw materials" was created - about 5 thousand tons of monazite sand, from which helium was obtained for zeppelins. In addition, helium was extracted from water mineral spring Nauheim, which gave up to 70 cubic meters. m of helium daily.

The incident with the fireproof zeppelin was the impetus for a new search for helium. Chemists, physicists, geologists began to intensively look for helium. It has suddenly become of great value. In 1916, 1 cubic meter of helium cost 200,000 gold rubles, that is, 200 rubles per liter. If we take into account that a liter of helium weighs 0.18 g, then 1 g of it cost over 1000 rubles.

Helium has become an object of hunting for merchants, speculators, stock exchange dealers. Helium was found in significant quantities in natural gases coming out of the bowels of the earth in America, in the state of Kansas, where, after America entered the war, a helium plant was built near the city of Fort Worth. But the war ended, helium reserves remained unused, the cost of helium fell sharply and at the end of 1918 amounted to about four rubles per cubic meter.

The helium extracted with such difficulty was used by the Americans only in 1923 to fill the now peaceful Shenandoah airship. It was the world's first and only air cargo-passenger ship filled with helium. However, his "life" was short-lived. Two years after her birth, the Shenandoah was destroyed by a storm. 55 thousand cubic meters m, almost the entire world supply of helium, which had been collected for six years, dissipated without a trace in the atmosphere during a storm that lasted only 30 minutes.

Helium application

Helium in nature

Mostly terrestrial helium is formed during the radioactive decay of uranium-238, uranium-235, thorium and unstable products of their decay. Incomparably smaller amounts of helium are produced by the slow decay of samarium-147 and bismuth. All these elements generate only the heavy isotope of helium - He 4 , whose atoms can be considered as the remains of alpha particles, buried in a shell of two paired electrons - in an electron doublet. In the early geological periods, there probably also existed other naturally radioactive series of elements that had already disappeared from the face of the Earth, saturating the planet with helium. One of them was the now artificially recreated neptunian series.

By the amount of helium locked in a rock or mineral, one can judge their absolute age. These measurements are based on the laws of radioactive decay: for example, half of uranium-238 in 4.52 billion years turns into helium and lead.

Helium accumulates slowly in the earth's crust. One ton of granite, containing 2 g of uranium and 10 g of thorium, produces only 0.09 mg of helium in a million years - half a cubic centimeter. The very few minerals rich in uranium and thorium contain quite a large amount of helium - a few cubic centimeters of helium per gram. However, the share of these minerals in natural helium production is close to zero, as they are very rare.

There is little helium on Earth: 1 m 3 of air contains only 5.24 cm 3 of helium, and each kilogram of terrestrial material contains 0.003 mg of helium. But in terms of prevalence in the Universe, helium ranks second after hydrogen: helium accounts for about 23% of the cosmic mass. Approximately half of all helium is concentrated in the earth's crust, mainly in its granite shell, which accumulated the main reserves of radioactive elements. The content of helium in the earth's crust is small - 3 x 10 -7% by weight. Helium accumulates in free gas accumulations of the bowels and in oils; such deposits reach an industrial scale. The maximum concentrations of helium (10-13%) were found in free gas accumulations and gases of uranium mines and (20-25%) in gases released spontaneously from groundwater. The older the age of gas-bearing sedimentary rocks and the higher the content of radioactive elements in them, the more helium is in the composition of natural gases.

Helium mining

Helium production on an industrial scale is made from natural and oil gases both hydrocarbon and nitrogen composition. According to the quality of raw materials, helium deposits are divided into: rich (He content > 0.5% by volume); ordinary (0.10-0.50) and poor< 0,10). Значительные его концентрации известны в некоторых месторождениях природного газа Канады, США (шт. Канзас, Техас, Нью-Мексико, Юта).

World reserves of helium amount to 45.6 billion cubic meters. Large deposits are located in the USA (45% of world resources), followed by Russia (32%), Algeria (7%), Canada (7%) and China (4%).
The United States also leads in helium production (140 million cubic meters per year), followed by Algeria (16 million).

Russia ranks third in the world - 6 million cubic meters per year. The Orenburg helium plant is currently the only domestic source production of helium, and gas production is reduced. In this regard, the gas fields of Eastern Siberia and the Far East with high helium concentrations (up to 0.6%) acquire special meaning. One of the most promising is the Kovykta ha zocondensate field located in the north of the Irkutsk region. According to experts, it contains about 25% of the world's x helium reserves.

Name of indicator	Helium (grade A) (according to TU 51-940-80)	Helium (grade B) (according to TU 51-940-80)	Helium of high purity, grade 5.5 (according to TU 0271-001-45905715-02)	Helium of high purity, brand 6.0 (according to TU 0271-001-45905715-02)
Helium, not less
Nitrogen, no more
Oxygen + argon
Neon, no more
Water vapor, no more
Hydrocarbons, no more
CO2 + CO, no more
Hydrogen, no more

Safety

– Helium is non-toxic, non-flammable, non-explosive
- Helium is allowed to be used in any crowded places: at concerts, promotions, stadiums, shops.
– Gaseous helium is physiologically inert and does not pose a danger to humans.
– Helium is not dangerous for the environment either, therefore neutralization, utilization and elimination of its residues in cylinders is not required.
– Helium is much lighter than air and dissipates in the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere.

Helium (grades A and B according to TU 51-940-80)
Technical name	Helium gaseous
Chemical formula
UN number
Transport hazard class
Physical properties
Physical state	Under normal conditions - gas
Density, kg/m³	Under normal conditions (101.3 kPa, 20 C), 1627
Boiling point, C at 101.3 kPa
Temperature of the 3rd point and its equilibrium pressure C, (MPa)
Solubility in water	insignificant
Fire and explosion hazard	fire and explosion proof
Stability and reactivity
Stability	stable
Reactivity	inert gas
Human danger
Toxic effect	Non toxic
environmental hazard	Harmful influence does not affect the environment
Facilities	Any means are applicable.

Storage and transportation of helium

Gaseous helium can be transported by all modes of transport in accordance with the rules for the carriage of goods on a specific mode of transport. Transportation is carried out in special brown steel cylinders and helium containers. Liquid helium is transported in transport vessels such as STG-40, STG-10 and STG-25 with a volume of 40, 10 and 25 liters.

Rules for the transportation of cylinders with technical gases

Transportation of dangerous goods in Russian Federation regulated by the following documents:

1. "Rules for the transport of dangerous goods by car"(as amended by the Orders of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation dated 06/11/1999 No. 37, dated 10/14/1999 No. 77; registered with the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation on December 18, 1995, registration No. 997).

2. "European Agreement on the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road" (ADR), to which Russia officially acceded on April 28, 1994 (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 03.02.1994 No. 76).

3. "Rules traffic" (SDA 2006), namely Article 23.5, establishing that "The carriage ... of dangerous goods ... is carried out in accordance with special rules."

4. "Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses", Article 12.21 part 2 of which provides for liability for violation of the rules for the transport of dangerous goods in the form of an "administrative fine on drivers in the amount of one to three times the minimum wage or deprivation of the right to drive vehicles for a period of one to three months; for officials responsible for transportation - from ten to twenty times the minimum wage.

In accordance with paragraph 3 of paragraph 1.2 "The Rules do not apply to ... transportation of a limited number of hazardous substances on one vehicle, the transportation of which can be considered as the transportation of non-dangerous goods." It also clarifies that "The limited quantity of dangerous goods is defined in the requirements for the safe transport of a particular type of dangerous goods. When determining it, it is possible to use the requirements of the European Agreement on the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods (ADR)". Thus, the issue of the maximum amount of substances that can be transported as non-dangerous goods is reduced to the study of section 1.1.3 of ADR, which establishes exemptions from the European rules for the transport of dangerous goods associated with various circumstances.

So, for example, in accordance with paragraph 1.1.3.1 "The provisions of ADR do not apply ... to the transport of dangerous goods by private persons, when these goods are packaged for retail sale and are intended for their personal consumption, use in everyday life, leisure or sports, when provided that measures are taken to prevent any leakage of the contents into normal conditions transportation".

However, the group of exemptions formally recognized by the rules for the carriage of dangerous goods are exemptions associated with the quantities transported in one transport unit (clause 1.1.3.6).

All gases are assigned to the second class of substances according to the ADR classification. Non-flammable, non-poisonous gases (groups A - neutral and O - oxidizing) belong to the third transport category, with a maximum quantity limit of 1000 units. Flammable (group F) - to the second, with a maximum limit of 333 units. By "unit" here is meant 1 liter of capacity of a vessel containing compressed gas, or 1 kg of liquefied or dissolved gas. Thus, the maximum amount of gases that can be transported in one transport unit as a non-dangerous cargo is as follows: