- Helium Element Noble Gas
- Helium Is A Noble Gas Whereas Beryllium Is A Metal
- Helium Is A Noble Gases
- Helium Is A Noble Gas Crossword Clue
Can only hold two electrons, which is what helium has, so helium is a Noble Gas. The second and third shells hold eight electrons, which is why other noble gases can be seen as having eight. Other characteristics of the noble gases are that they all conduct electricity, fluoresce, are odorless and colorless, and are used in many conditions when a stable element is needed to maintain a.
Helium has long been known to be a stable, noble gas. New research claims it may not be. If it’s true, the periodic table as we know it may be rewritten.
Helium: A stable noble gas
Since it was first discovered in 1868 in the halos of light surrounding the sun and then later in 1895 on Earth, helium has been known to be an inert and noble gas, meaning that it is a stable element that does not react chemically with other elements.
There are only six proven noble gases, including neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and of course helium. However, new research may be suggesting that helium might not be the stable element we thought it was.
Helium is not a stable noble gas?
A team of scientists led by Utah State University have successfully published their results of an experiment in which they claim to have successfully formed a helium compound with sodium and high pressure.
If this finding can be repeated and validated, it will completely re-write all of the world’s existing chemistry books. It means that helium would no longer be considered a noble gas.
The researchers say that the helium-sodium compound can only exist under intensely high pressures and cannot exist on Earth under natural conditions.
Helium Element Noble Gas
However…
Planets may make helium-sodium compound naturally
As it turns out, this helium-sodium compound may have been occurring naturally all along. The researchers believe the environments inside the gas giants in our solar system — Jupiter and Saturn — may contain the helium-sodium compound naturally due to the high pressure.
There is a great article that goes into more detail about the gas planets here.
What next?
Time to rewrite the chemistry books? The researchers believe so, but not everyone is so quick to jump to a conclusion, which by the way is perfectly normal immediately after such a groundbreaking finding has been claimed. Repetition is needed in science to ensure that no rash decisions are made.
Helium Is A Noble Gas Whereas Beryllium Is A Metal
If you’re interested, check out this article from chemistry writer Carmen Drahl regarding the range of doubts that still persist surrounding the helium-sodium compound.
So, repetition is needed. The kicker is that there are very few labs on Earth that have the technology to even conduct the experiment.
It may be many years before we have an answer, but what an exciting time for the history of helium!
Total war: empire - definitive edition download. Sources: Nature Chemistry
The noble gases, from the German word Edelgas, are a family of nonreactive monoatomic gases found on the far right of the periodic table. Noble gases include helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, radon, and the latest, ununoctium, with an atomic number of 118, only three atoms of which have been observed over the course of experiments running from 2002 - 2005. Helium, the most common noble gas, makes up about 1/4th of all atoms in the universe. Argon is the most common noble gas here on Earth, where it makes up 1% of our atmosphere. Helium is also available in substantial quantities from underground natural gas reserves.
Helium Is A Noble Gases
In industry, noble gases are used as an inert atmosphere for processes where reactivity with air is a problem. The noble gas argon is often used in light bulbs, where it provides an inert atmosphere for the electrified tungsten filament. Noble gases are often a superior alternative to another gas used to provide a nonreactive atmosphere, hydrogen, because of their lack of flammability. Neon is used for lighting applications, and krypton is used for lasers.
The noble gas helium is among the most versatile, and is used in applications from blimps to cooling superconductors. Helium has the lowest boiling point of all the elements, at 4.22 Kelvins, or only a few degrees above absolute zero. Liquid helium is extremely cold and can be used as a coolant of last resort, when liquid nitrogen is insufficient. Let's also not forget that helium may be inhaled to make your voice squeaky.
Helium Is A Noble Gas Crossword Clue
The reason for the noble gases' extremely low reactivity is given by their full valence electron shells - their outer electron shells have all the electrons they can hold, making their electronegativity negligible - not in search of complementary electrons, they have little propensity for chemical bonding. However, xenon, krypton, and argon compounds can be formed under exotic conditions in a laboratory.