About the Element Helium

Helium is a very unusual and interesting element, because it is the second most abundant element in the universe and yet it does not support life. This paper reviews helium, how it was discovered, what its uses are, and where it can be found.

Helium - History

In the literature available on helium, author Heather Hasan writes that in 1785 a man named Henry Cavendish (1731-1810) discovered that the air humans breathe was made up of more than oxygen (O2), nitrogen (N2), and carbon dioxide (CO2). But Cavendish did not technically discover helium albeit he knew something else was present beside the known elements referenced in the sentence above this one (Hasan, 2006).

The historically accepted version of the discovery of helium came eighty years later (in 1868) when French astronomer Pierre-Jules-Cesar Janssen was conducting studies of the sun. Using a spectroscope (which identifies elements by the spectrum of various lines produced when the elements are heated), Janssen noted a "…yellow line that did not belong to any element" that had been made known at that time in history. Meanwhile British astronomer named Sir. J. Normal Lockyer (1836-1920) also used a spectroscope to research elements and he -- like Janssen -- observed a "…mysterious yellow line" (Hasan).

Lockyer decided that that yellow line must have indicated that an element unknown on Earth at that time must be present in the sun. Hence, he named it helium, using the name for the Greek God of the sun, Helios (Hasan). Given that this element had only been detected on the sun, scientists either didn't believe what Lockyer had discovered or they went on a search to find helium on the Earth. In 1895 a Scottish chemist by the name of Sir. William Ramsay (1852-1916) made the Earth-bound discovery of helium. In fact it is now known that 3,000 times more helium is located beneath the Earth's surface than is found in the atmosphere (Hasan).

Helium -- the Science Applications

One of the important uses of helium is to help evaluate old rocks and other geologic features. In fact helium is a "…so-called primordial isotope" because it is so ancient (Anderson, et al., 2006, p. 1). Anderson and colleagues believe helium was created during the Big Bang and was incorporated into the Earth during "…its initial accretion and in the subsequent long-term acquisition of 'late veneer' material" (Anderson, 1). Presently helium is not being added to the inventory of Earth's elements "at a significant rate" albeit a "small amount" of helium is constantly being added to the Earth's surface by "…interplanetary dust [particles and by cosmic rays" (Anderson, 2).

The authors explain that Earth is "…constantly degassing," which transports helium from the crust of the Earth to the mantle and from there "…into the oceans and atmosphere" (Anderson, 2).