• Question: How is helium collected?

    Asked by u12tsangv to Dilwar, Lou, Rachel, Simon, Susan on 16 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Susan Skelton

      Susan Skelton answered on 16 Nov 2013:

      Hi u12tsangv – interesting question!
      Although helium is one of the most plentiful elements in the universe, it is difficult to collect.

      There is lots of helium all around us in the air, but it is not a very rich source for helium collectors. There is only about 1 part of helium for every 20,000 parts of air!

      There are much better sources of helium underground. Some radioactive elements, such as uranium, release alpha particles when they decay. Deep down inside the Earth where these radioactive decays take place, the alpha particles capture electrons and become helium. Over time, large quantities of helium become trapped in underground caverns. To collect the helium, people drill down into the caverns and capture the helium.

      Most of the helium in the universe is inside the stars like our sun, so we’ll never be able to get our hands on it!

    • Photo: Simon Langley-Evans

      Simon Langley-Evans answered on 16 Nov 2013:

      Helium is a very common gas in the Universe but on Earth it is becoming rare and so people are worried that by putting it in balloons and things like that, we are wasting something valuable. Like Susan says, helium on Earth forms deep underground when radioactive elements decay. We can only get it by drilling down deep and most helium that we do collect is found as part of drilling for oil or natural gas which we use for fuel.

    • Photo: Dilwar Hussain

      Dilwar Hussain answered on 19 Nov 2013:

      Helium that’s in the atmosphere comes from alpha particles emitted by radioactive decay. Elements undergo decay because they’re unstable and they become more stable by emitting an alpha particle which is a helium atom. Natural gas buried deep underground contains a bit of helium too.

Comments

  • Photo: u12tsangv

    u12tsangv commented on :

    This has surprised me, considering the ways we use it and how easily we can just buy a helium balloon! 🙂
    Susan, can helium be collected from other radioactive elements as well as uranium? I was wondering if people would come so desperate for helium that they would ‘make’ helium in a science lab…
    I was thinking about iron reacting with oxygen, it creates iron oxide or ‘rust’. Does uranium react with something to make it decay?
    Does helium positively charged or negatively charged and what are alpha particles explained ‘simply’?
    Simon: Does helium have any useful properties that could heal bodies? The only ways I can think of helium being used is either for entertainment (squeaky voices), balloons or knocking people out. lol 😀
    Thank you for the detailed answers, I am intrigued! 🙂

    • Photo: Susan

      Susan commented on :

      Hi u12tsangv!
      Thanks for the questions. That’s a really good idea! I don’t think anyone does this at the moment, so I had to think quite hard to figure out why not.

      In theory we could collect alpha particles from the decay of radioactive materials like uranium, and then add electrons to turn them in to helium, but in practice I think it would be very tricky!

      I’ll explain a bit more about what alpha particles are, if you don’t mind learning a bit of particle physics?

      Alpha particles consist of two protons and two neutrons bound together. Protons have positive electric charge and neutrons have neutral electric charge, so overall alpha particles are positively charged.

      An atom consists of a positively charged nucleus surrounded by negatively charged electrons. The nucleus of a HELIUM atom has two protons and two neutrons – exactly the same as an alpha particle! So when helium is formed underground, the alpha particles are formed first as a product of radioactive decay of the rocks, and then the positively charged alpha particles attract two negatively charged electrons from nearby … and turn into helium atoms!

      Nuclear reactors like those in power plants release lots of alpha particles, but the problem would be separating the alpha particles from all of the other radioactive particles flying around! We have to be very careful with radioactive materials to stop them escaping in to the atmosphere where they can be very dangerous to our health. As well as alpha particles there will be radioactive forms of lots of other elements – bang on topic for this zone, one of the most dangerous ones is iodine!

      One of the main uses of helium is in cooling equipment down. Helium has a very low boiling point at -269 degrees (much colder than water at 100 degrees!) so we can make things very very cold. Lots of scientific equipment needs to be kept cold to work. One of the main uses is for cooling the giant magnets in hospital MRI scanners. Without helium, doctors wouldn’t be able to get such detailed images of the insides of patients’ bodies.

      Because helium is so useful, and so difficult to collect, some scientists are protesting against the waste of using such a valuable resource for such trivial things as party balloons!
      If you’re interested, there is an article about that at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24903034.

  • Photo: Simon

    Simon commented on :

    @u12tsang

    Helium has no healing properties that I am aware of. It is used in deep sea diving as a substitute for nitrogen. Deep sea divers are at risk of something called the bends when the surface. This is due to nitrogen in the air forming bubbles in the blood, which can cause brain injury. Divers breathe a mix of oxygen and helium to remove this risk. And yes, they speak in squeaking voices the whole time that they are down there.