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119-488: A balloon is a flexible membrane bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium , hydrogen , nitrous oxide , oxygen , or air . For special purposes, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water , granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or light sources. Modern day balloons are made from materials such as rubber , latex , polychloroprene , or a nylon fabric, and can come in many different colors. Some early balloons were made of dried animal bladders , such as

238-492: A diamond anvil cell . The insulating electride Na 2 He has been shown to be thermodynamically stable at pressures above 113 GPa. It has a fluorite structure. Balloon modelling Two primary design styles are "single balloon modelling", which restricts itself to the use of one balloon per model, and "multiple balloon modelling", which uses more than one balloon. Each style has its own set of challenges and skills, and most twisters practise both styles. Depending on

357-545: A nuclear halo . Table of thermal and physical properties of helium gas at atmospheric pressure: Helium has a valence of zero and is chemically unreactive under all normal conditions. It is an electrical insulator unless ionized . As with the other noble gases, helium has metastable energy levels that allow it to remain ionized in an electrical discharge with a voltage below its ionization potential . Helium can form unstable compounds , known as excimers , with tungsten, iodine, fluorine, sulfur, and phosphorus when it

476-441: A superfluid phase, but only at much lower temperatures; as a result, less is known about the properties of the isotope. Helium II is a superfluid, a quantum mechanical state of matter with strange properties. For example, when it flows through capillaries as thin as 10 to 100 nm it has no measurable viscosity . However, when measurements were done between two moving discs, a viscosity comparable to that of gaseous helium

595-405: A balloon is inversely proportional to the diameter of the balloon, these tiny tubular balloons are extremely hard to inflate initially. A pump is usually used to inflate these balloons. Decorators may use helium balloons to create balloon sculptures. Usually the round shape of the balloon restricts these to simple arches or walls, but on occasion more ambitious "sculptures" have been attempted. It

714-434: A certain elasticity to them that needs to be taken into account. The act of stretching a balloon fills it with potential energy . When it is released, the potential energy is converted to kinetic energy and the balloon snaps back into its original position, though perhaps a little stretched out. When a balloon is filled with air, the balloon is being stretched. While the elasticity of the balloon causes tension that would have

833-667: A display of 4,200 red balloons outside the United Nations Headquarters . Also in the 1950s at the start of the Cold War, activists in Western Europe uses balloons for propaganda purposes that would float east over Eastern Europe, which would release newspapers and pamphlets. In 2014, South Korean activists used the same balloon method to get information to those in North Korea. Paolo Scannavino set

952-421: A few millikelvins. It is possible to produce exotic helium isotopes , which rapidly decay into other substances. The shortest-lived heavy helium isotope is the unbound helium-10 with a half-life of 2.6(4) × 10  s . Helium-6 decays by emitting a beta particle and has a half-life of 0.8 second. Helium-7 and helium-8 are created in certain nuclear reactions . Helium-6 and helium-8 are known to exhibit

1071-524: A gas-like index of refraction of 1.026 which makes its surface so hard to see that floats of Styrofoam are often used to show where the surface is. This colorless liquid has a very low viscosity and a density of 0.145–0.125 g/mL (between about 0 and 4 K), which is only one-fourth the value expected from classical physics . Quantum mechanics is needed to explain this property and thus both states of liquid helium (helium I and helium II) are called quantum fluids , meaning they display atomic properties on

1190-468: A hazard to animals through ingestion or entanglement. Because of the potential harm to wildlife and the effect of litter on the environment, some jurisdictions even legislate to control mass balloon releases. Legislation proposed in Maryland , US, was named after Inky, a pygmy sperm whale who needed six operations after swallowing debris, the largest piece of which was a Mylar balloon. The Balloon Council,

1309-472: A helium-oxygen bond could be stable. Two new molecular species, predicted using theory, CsFHeO and N(CH 3 ) 4 FHeO, are derivatives of a metastable FHeO anion first theorized in 2005 by a group from Taiwan. Helium atoms have been inserted into the hollow carbon cage molecules (the fullerenes ) by heating under high pressure. The endohedral fullerene molecules formed are stable at high temperatures. When chemical derivatives of these fullerenes are formed,

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1428-515: A latex balloon is perfectly safe to release into the environment as it is made from a natural substance and will biodegrade over time. A latex balloon can take up to a year to degrade if it lands in the sea and during this time it is possible for a marine animal to ingest the balloon and die from slow starvation if its digestive system is blocked. NABAS (National Association of Balloon Artists and Suppliers), an organisation that styles itself "The Balloon and Party Professionals Association" and represents

1547-410: A lower boiling point, can achieve about 0.2 kelvin in a helium-3 refrigerator . Equal mixtures of liquid He and He below 0.8 K separate into two immiscible phases due to their dissimilarity (they follow different quantum statistics : helium-4 atoms are bosons while helium-3 atoms are fermions ). Dilution refrigerators use this immiscibility to achieve temperatures of

1666-434: A macroscopic scale. This may be an effect of its boiling point being so close to absolute zero, preventing random molecular motion ( thermal energy ) from masking the atomic properties. Liquid helium below its lambda point (called helium II ) exhibits very unusual characteristics. Due to its high thermal conductivity , when it boils, it does not bubble but rather evaporates directly from its surface. Helium-3 also has

1785-429: A natural latex tapped from rubber trees , and can be filled with air, helium, water, or any other suitable liquid or gas. The rubber's elasticity makes the volume adjustable. Often the term "party balloon" will refer to a twisting balloon or pencil balloon. These balloons are manipulated to create shapes and figures for parties and events, typically along with entertainment. Filling the balloon with air can be done with

1904-459: A negative Joule–Thomson coefficient at normal ambient temperatures, meaning it heats up when allowed to freely expand. Only below its Joule–Thomson inversion temperature (of about 32 to 50 K at 1 atmosphere) does it cool upon free expansion. Once precooled below this temperature, helium can be liquefied through expansion cooling. Most extraterrestrial helium is plasma in stars, with properties quite different from those of atomic helium. In

2023-427: A new form of hydrogen with half-integer transition levels. In 1912, Alfred Fowler managed to produce similar lines from a hydrogen-helium mixture, and supported Pickering's conclusion as to their origin. Bohr's model does not allow for half-integer transitions (nor does quantum mechanics) and Bohr concluded that Pickering and Fowler were wrong, and instead assigned these spectral lines to ionised helium, He . Fowler

2142-669: A number of recorded uses. By the 18th century, people were inflating balloons of cloth or canvas with hot air and sending it aloft, the Montgolfier brothers going so far as to experiment with first animals in 1782, and then, when altitude did not kill them, human beings in 1783. The first hydrogen-filled gas balloon was flown in the 1790s. A century later the first hydrogen-filled weather balloons were launched in France . The first modern rubber balloons on record were made by Michael Faraday in 1824. He used these to contain gasses he

2261-516: A phenomenon now called superfluidity . This phenomenon is related to Bose–Einstein condensation . In 1972, the same phenomenon was observed in helium-3 , but at temperatures much closer to absolute zero, by American physicists Douglas D. Osheroff , David M. Lee , and Robert C. Richardson . The phenomenon in helium-3 is thought to be related to pairing of helium-3 fermions to make bosons , in analogy to Cooper pairs of electrons producing superconductivity . In 1961, Vignos and Fairbank reported

2380-595: A plasma, helium's electrons are not bound to its nucleus, resulting in very high electrical conductivity, even when the gas is only partially ionized. The charged particles are highly influenced by magnetic and electric fields. For example, in the solar wind together with ionized hydrogen, the particles interact with the Earth's magnetosphere , giving rise to Birkeland currents and the aurora . Helium liquifies when cooled below 4.2 K at atmospheric pressure. Unlike any other element, however, helium remains liquid down to

2499-441: A pressurizing and purge gas, as a protective atmosphere for arc welding , and in processes such as growing crystals to make silicon wafers —account for half of the gas produced. A small but well-known use is as a lifting gas in balloons and airships . As with any gas whose density differs from that of air, inhaling a small volume of helium temporarily changes the timbre and quality of the human voice . In scientific research,

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2618-430: A rate three times that of air and around 65% that of hydrogen. Helium is the least water- soluble monatomic gas, and one of the least water-soluble of any gas ( CF 4 , SF 6 , and C 4 F 8 have lower mole fraction solubilities: 0.3802, 0.4394, and 0.2372 x 2 /10 , respectively, versus helium's 0.70797 x 2 /10 ), and helium's index of refraction is closer to unity than that of any other gas. Helium has

2737-478: A reconsideration of the Pickering–Fowler series as central evidence in support of his model of the atom . This series is named for Edward Charles Pickering , who in 1896 published observations of previously unknown lines in the spectrum of the star ζ Puppis (these are now known to occur with Wolf–Rayet and other hot stars). Pickering attributed the observation (lines at 4551, 5411, and 10123  Å ) to

2856-445: A result of this creeping behavior and helium II's ability to leak rapidly through tiny openings, it is very difficult to confine. Unless the container is carefully constructed, the helium II will creep along the surfaces and through valves until it reaches somewhere warmer, where it will evaporate. Waves propagating across a Rollin film are governed by the same equation as gravity waves in shallow water, but rather than gravity,

2975-463: A surface extends past the level of helium II, the helium II moves along the surface, against the force of gravity . Helium II will escape from a vessel that is not sealed by creeping along the sides until it reaches a warmer region where it evaporates. It moves in a 30 nm-thick film regardless of surface material. This film is called a Rollin film and is named after the man who first characterized this trait, Bernard V. Rollin . As

3094-449: A temperature of absolute zero . This is a direct effect of quantum mechanics: specifically, the zero point energy of the system is too high to allow freezing. Pressures above about 25 atmospheres are required to freeze it. There are two liquid phases: Helium I is a conventional liquid, and Helium II, which occurs at a lower temperature, is a superfluid . Below its boiling point of 4.22 K (−268.93 °C; −452.07 °F) and above

3213-485: A trade organization that represents the interests of balloon businesses, claims that there is no documentary evidence to suggest that the death of any sea mammal has been attributed to foil balloons as a sole cause, to date. In the United Kingdom, foil balloons sold at major theme parks and zoos have balloon weights attached to help prevent accidental release into the environment. When balloons eventually return to

3332-406: A week. However, a rubber balloon eventually loses gas to the outside. The process by which a substance or solute migrates from a region of high concentration, through a barrier or membrane, to a region of lower concentration is called diffusion . The inside of balloons can be treated with a special gel (for instance, the polymer solution sold under the "Hi Float" brand) which coats the inside of

3451-464: A γ phase, which is body-centered cubic (bcc). There are nine known isotopes of helium of which two, helium-3 and helium-4 , are stable . In the Earth's atmosphere, one atom is He for every million that are He . Unlike most elements, helium's isotopic abundance varies greatly by origin, due to the different formation processes. The most common isotope, helium-4, is produced on Earth by alpha decay of heavier radioactive elements;

3570-403: Is 0.187 ± 0.009 g/cm . At higher temperatures, helium will solidify with sufficient pressure. At room temperature, this requires about 114,000 atm. Helium-4 and helium-3 both form several crystalline solid phases, all requiring at least 25 bar. They both form an α phase, which has a hexagonal close-packed (hcp) crystal structure, a β phase, which is face-centered cubic (fcc), and

3689-421: Is a colorless, odorless, non-toxic, inert , monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table . Its boiling point is the lowest among all the elements , and it does not have a melting point at standard pressures. It is the second-lightest and second most abundant element in the observable universe , after hydrogen . It is present at about 24% of the total elemental mass, which

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3808-449: Is a description of the total forces against an object, each of these forces, on the outside of the balloon, causes the balloon to contract a tiny bit, while the inside forces cause the balloon to expand. With this knowledge, one would immediately assume that a balloon with high air pressure inside would expand based on the high amount of internal forces, and vice versa. This would make the inside and outside air pressures equal. Balloons have

3927-407: Is a non-renewable resource because once released into the atmosphere, it promptly escapes into space . Its supply is thought to be rapidly diminishing. However, some studies suggest that helium produced deep in the Earth by radioactive decay can collect in natural gas reserves in larger-than-expected quantities, in some cases having been released by volcanic activity. The first evidence of helium

4046-424: Is also common to use balloons as table decorations for celebratory events. Balloons can sometimes be modeled to form shapes of animals. Table decorations normally appear with three or five balloons on each bouquet. Ribbon is curled and added with a weight to keep the balloons from floating away. A decorative use for balloons is in balloon drops. In a balloon drop, a plastic bag or net filled with air-inflated balloons

4165-411: Is becoming more common for balloons to be filled with air instead of helium, as air-filled balloons will not release into the atmosphere or deplete the earthly helium supply. There are numerous party games and school-related activities that can use air-filled balloons as opposed to helium balloons. When age appropriate, these activities often include the added fun of blowing the balloons up. In many events,

4284-399: Is constructed which is connected to a reservoir of helium II by a sintered disc through which superfluid helium leaks easily but through which non-superfluid helium cannot pass. If the interior of the container is heated, the superfluid helium changes to non-superfluid helium. In order to maintain the equilibrium fraction of superfluid helium, superfluid helium leaks through and increases

4403-447: Is created by the natural radioactive decay of heavy radioactive elements ( thorium and uranium , although there are other examples), as the alpha particles emitted by such decays consist of helium-4 nuclei . This radiogenic helium is trapped with natural gas in concentrations as great as 7% by volume, from which it is extracted commercially by a low-temperature separation process called fractional distillation . Terrestrial helium

4522-471: Is more than 12 times the mass of all the heavier elements combined. Its abundance is similar to this in both the Sun and Jupiter , because of the very high nuclear binding energy (per nucleon ) of helium-4 , with respect to the next three elements after helium. This helium-4 binding energy also accounts for why it is a product of both nuclear fusion and radioactive decay . The most common isotope of helium in

4641-413: Is no exception. Thus, numerical mathematical methods are required, even to solve the system of one nucleus and two electrons. Such computational chemistry methods have been used to create a quantum mechanical picture of helium electron binding which is accurate to within < 2% of the correct value, in a few computational steps. Such models show that each electron in helium partly screens the nucleus from

4760-519: Is often jointly credited with detecting the element, along with Norman Lockyer . Janssen recorded the helium spectral line during the solar eclipse of 1868, while Lockyer observed it from Britain. However, only Lockyer proposed that the line was due to a new element, which he named after the Sun. The formal discovery of the element was made in 1895 by chemists Sir William Ramsay , Per Teodor Cleve , and Nils Abraham Langlet , who found helium emanating from

4879-411: Is possible to use it as a makeshift water gun . Solar balloons are thin, large balloons filled with air that is heated by the sun in order to decrease its density to obtain lift. Balloons are often deliberately released, creating a so-called balloon rocket . Balloon rockets work because the elastic balloons contract on the air within them, and so when the mouth of the balloon is opened, the gas within

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4998-479: Is produced in fusion reactions from hydrogen, though its estimated abundance in the universe is about 10 relative to helium-4. The unusual stability of the helium-4 nucleus is also important cosmologically : it explains the fact that in the first few minutes after the Big Bang , as the "soup" of free protons and neutrons which had initially been created in about 6:1 ratio cooled to the point that nuclear binding

5117-520: Is subjected to a glow discharge , to electron bombardment, or reduced to plasma by other means. The molecular compounds HeNe, HgHe 10 , and WHe 2 , and the molecular ions He 2 , He 2 , HeH , and HeD have been created this way. HeH is also stable in its ground state but is extremely reactive—it is the strongest Brønsted acid known, and therefore can exist only in isolation, as it will protonate any molecule or counteranion it contacts. This technique has also produced

5236-451: Is suspended from a fixed height. Once released, the balloons fall onto their target area below. Balloon drops are commonly performed at New Year's Eve celebrations and at political rallies and conventions , but may also be performed at celebrations, including graduations and weddings. For decades, people have also celebrated with balloon releases . This practice has been discouraged by the balloon industry, as it has posed problematic for

5355-466: Is the second least reactive noble gas after neon , and thus the second least reactive of all elements. It is chemically inert and monatomic in all standard conditions. Because of helium's relatively low molar (atomic) mass, its thermal conductivity , specific heat , and sound speed in the gas phase are all greater than any other gas except hydrogen . For these reasons and the small size of helium monatomic molecules, helium diffuses through solids at

5474-416: Is thus energetically extremely stable for all these particles and has astrophysical implications. Namely, adding another particle – proton, neutron, or alpha particle – would consume rather than release energy; all systems with mass number 5, as well as beryllium-8 (comprising two alpha particles), are unbound. For example, the stability and low energy of the electron cloud state in helium accounts for

5593-402: The 2017 Qatar diplomatic crisis severely affected helium production there. 2014 was widely acknowledged to be a year of over-supply in the helium business, following years of renowned shortages. Nasdaq reported (2015) that for Air Products , an international corporation that sells gases for industrial use, helium volumes remain under economic pressure due to feedstock supply constraints. In

5712-573: The Naval Aircraft Factory -built USS Shenandoah , flew in September 1923. Although the extraction process using low-temperature gas liquefaction was not developed in time to be significant during World War I, production continued. Helium was primarily used as a lifting gas in lighter-than-air craft. During World War II, the demand increased for helium for lifting gas and for shielded arc welding . The helium mass spectrometer

5831-483: The Rainforest Alliance 's approval, and at which its representatives conduct regular inspections in order to make sure that the farmers meet several criteria set to ascertain that the biological diversity in the area is maintained, and that no worker or natural resource is abused in the material manufacturing process. Another environmental problem with latex balloons is not the effects the balloons have on

5950-624: The beta decay of tritium . Rocks from the Earth's crust have isotope ratios varying by as much as a factor of ten, and these ratios can be used to investigate the origin of rocks and the composition of the Earth's mantle . He is much more abundant in stars as a product of nuclear fusion. Thus in the interstellar medium , the proportion of He to He is about 100 times higher than on Earth. Extraplanetary material, such as lunar and asteroid regolith , have trace amounts of helium-3 from being bombarded by solar winds . The Moon 's surface contains helium-3 at concentrations on

6069-413: The lambda point of 2.1768 K (−270.9732 °C; −455.7518 °F), the isotope helium-4 exists in a normal colorless liquid state, called helium I . Like other cryogenic liquids, helium I boils when it is heated and contracts when its temperature is lowered. Below the lambda point, however, helium does not boil, and it expands as the temperature is lowered further. Helium I has

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6188-460: The pig bladder . Some balloons are used for decorative purposes or entertaining purposes, while others are used for practical purposes such as meteorology , medical treatment , military defense , or transportation . A balloon's properties, including its low density and low cost, have led to a wide range of applications. The rubber balloon was invented by Michael Faraday in 1824, during experiments with various gases. He invented them for use in

6307-626: The uranium ore cleveite , which is now not regarded as a separate mineral species, but as a variety of uraninite . In 1903, large reserves of helium were found in natural gas fields in parts of the United States, by far the largest supplier of the gas today. Liquid helium is used in cryogenics (its largest single use, consuming about a quarter of production), and in the cooling of superconducting magnets , with its main commercial application in MRI scanners. Helium's other industrial uses—as

6426-519: The Clown" Art Petri credits "Herman Bonnert from Pennsylvania at a magician's convention in 1939" as being the first balloontwister. Val Andrews, in Manual of Balloon Modeling, Vol. 1, An Encyclopedic Series , credits H.J. Bonnert of Scranton, Pennsylvania as being the "daddy of them all". Jim Church III states, "Frank Zacone from Youngstown, Ohio was doing a balloon act during the 1940s and had been doing

6545-467: The Earth, and for carbon-based or other life) have thus been created since the Big Bang in stars which were hot enough to fuse helium itself. All elements other than hydrogen and helium today account for only 2% of the mass of atomic matter in the universe. Helium-4, by contrast, comprises about 24% of the mass of the universe's ordinary matter—nearly all the ordinary matter that is not hydrogen. Helium

6664-465: The Interior to empty the reserve, with sales starting by 2005. Helium produced between 1930 and 1945 was about 98.3% pure (2% nitrogen), which was adequate for airships. In 1945, a small amount of 99.9% helium was produced for welding use. By 1949, commercial quantities of Grade A 99.95% helium were available. For many years, the United States produced more than 90% of commercially usable helium in

6783-528: The UK balloon industry, publishes guidelines for people holding balloon releases. some of the leading balloon manufacturers have started to recommend avoiding balloon releasing, instead preferring to tie balloons down with weights in order to prevent them from floating away. These recommendations have also been adopted by some industry professionals working with balloons in the fields of design and entertainment. Traditionally balloons are manufactured from plastic . With

6902-572: The US by the early 20th century. There has been some environmental concern over metallised Mylar balloons, as they do not biodegrade or shred as rubber balloons do. Release of these types of balloons into the atmosphere is considered harmful to the environment. This type of balloon can also conduct electricity on its surface and released foil balloons can become entangled in power lines and cause power outages. Released balloons can land anywhere, including on nature reserves or other areas where they can pose

7021-619: The United States in 1965 was more than eight times the peak wartime consumption. After the Helium Acts Amendments of 1960 (Public Law 86–777), the U.S. Bureau of Mines arranged for five private plants to recover helium from natural gas. For this helium conservation program, the Bureau built a 425-mile (684 km) pipeline from Bushton, Kansas , to connect those plants with the government's partially depleted Cliffside gas field near Amarillo, Texas. This helium-nitrogen mixture

7140-442: The act for some time." Another candidate for first balloon twister is Henry Maar . Modellers will use an assortment of balloons, usually in various colors . Balloon sizes are usually identified by a number: the most common size of twisting balloons is called a "260", as it is approximately two inches in diameter and 60 inches long. Thus, a "260" is 2×60 inches and a "160" is 1×60 inches when fully blown up. Although these are

7259-439: The air inside it exerts more pressure than outside it so the balloon pops from tension. In some cases, the helium leaks out from pores and the balloon deflates, falling down. "Stories Behind Everyday Things"; New York: Reader's Digest , 1980. Helium Helium (from Greek : ἥλιος , romanized :  helios , lit.   'sun') is a chemical element ; it has symbol He and atomic number 2. It

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7378-490: The air inside the balloon will have a greater air pressure than the original atmospheric air pressure. Air pressure, technically, is a measurement of the amount of collisions against a surface at any time. In the case of balloon, it is supposed to measure how many particles at any in any given time space collide with the wall of the balloon and bounce off. Since this is nearly impossible to measure, air pressure seems to be more easily described as density. The similarity comes from

7497-440: The alpha particles that emerge are fully ionized helium-4 nuclei. Helium-4 is an unusually stable nucleus because its nucleons are arranged into complete shells . It was also formed in enormous quantities during Big Bang nucleosynthesis . Helium-3 is present on Earth only in trace amounts. Most of it has been present since Earth's formation, though some falls to Earth trapped in cosmic dust . Trace amounts are also produced by

7616-602: The angioplasty site to keep the vessel open after the balloon's removal. Balloon catheters are catheters that have balloons at their tip to keep them from slipping out. For example, the balloon of a Foley catheter is inflated when the catheter is inserted into the urinary bladder and secures its position. Insertion of balloons subsequently filled with air or liquid can be used to stop bleeding in hollow internal organs such as stomach or uterus . Humans have intentionally filled bladders, especially actual animal bladders, with air since prehistory. In Ancient Greece, these had

7735-473: The animals. For example, a bird can use a deflated balloon as a component for its nest. When the eggs hatch, they will get tangled in the balloon and that can lead to death. Anthony Andrady says that releases of latex balloons that descend into the sea pose a serious ingestion and/or entanglement hazard to marine animals because balloons exposed floating in seawater deteriorate much more slowly than those exposed in air. Balloon manufacturers will often state that

7854-486: The balloon collapse, it is also being pushed back out by the constant bouncing of the internal air molecules. The internal air has to exert force not only to counteract the external air to keep the air pressures "even", but it also has to counteract the natural contraction of the balloon. Therefore, it requires more air pressure (or force) than the air outside the balloon wall. Because of this, when helium balloons are left and they float higher, as atmospheric pressure decreases,

7973-455: The balloon is expelled out, and due to Newton's third law of motion , the balloon is propelled forward. This is the same way that a rocket works. Balloons filled with hot air or a buoyant gas have been used as flying machines since the 18th century. The earliest flights were made with hot air balloons using air heated with a flame, or hydrogen as the lifting gas. Later, coal gas and later still helium were used. An unpowered balloon travels with

8092-551: The balloon to reduce the helium leakage, thus increasing float time to a week or longer. Beginning in the late 1970s, some more expensive (and longer-lasting) foil balloons made of thin, unstretchable, less permeable metallised films such as Mylar ( BoPET ) started being produced. These balloons have attractive shiny reflective surfaces and are often printed with color pictures and patterns for gifts and parties. The most important attributes of metallised nylon for balloons are its light weight, increasing buoyancy, and its ability to keep

8211-526: The balloons will contain prizes, and party-goers can pop the balloons to retrieve the items inside. Balloons are used for publicity at major events. Screen printing processes can be used to print designs and company logos onto the balloons. Custom built printers inflate the balloon and apply ink with elastic qualities through a silk screen template. In January 2008, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York organized

8330-412: The behavior of the two fluid phases of helium-4 (helium I and helium II) is important to researchers studying quantum mechanics (in particular the property of superfluidity ) and to those looking at the phenomena, such as superconductivity , produced in matter near absolute zero . On Earth, it is relatively rare—5.2 ppm by volume in the atmosphere . Most terrestrial helium present today

8449-446: The element's chemical inertness, and also the lack of interaction of helium atoms with each other, producing the lowest melting and boiling points of all the elements. In a similar way, the particular energetic stability of the helium-4 nucleus, produced by similar effects, accounts for the ease of helium-4 production in atomic reactions that involve either heavy-particle emission or fusion. Some stable helium-3 (two protons and one neutron)

8568-497: The environment and cities. In recent years, legislation such as the California Balloon Law has been enacted to enforce consumers and retailers to tether helium-filled foil ( BoPET ) balloons with a balloon weight. This ensures that the helium-filled balloons do not float into the atmosphere, which is potentially injurious to animals, the environment, and power lines. Many states now have banned balloon releases. It

8687-708: The environment once they are decomposed, but when they are being made. When latex is being produced, it produces greenhouse gases, such as CO 2 , CH 4 , N 2 O. This is becoming an increasing problem, especially in Thailand which is responsible for 35% of the worlds natural rubber production. At the start of the 21st century, balloon recycling or reuse for other purposes was in its infancy. As of 2020, several balloon manufacturers have developed methods for effective balloon waste disposal , and some manufacturers use recycled balloons to produce other products, such as toys for pets. Once inflated with regular, atmospheric air,

8806-515: The existence of a different phase of solid helium-4, designated the gamma-phase. It exists for a narrow range of pressure between 1.45 and 1.78 K. After an oil drilling operation in 1903 in Dexter, Kansas produced a gas geyser that would not burn, Kansas state geologist Erasmus Haworth collected samples of the escaping gas and took them back to the University of Kansas at Lawrence where, with

8925-517: The existence of this new element. The ending "-ium" is unusual, as it normally applies only to metallic elements; probably Lockyer, being an astronomer, was unaware of the chemical conventions. In 1881, Italian physicist Luigi Palmieri detected helium on Earth for the first time through its D 3 spectral line, when he analyzed a material that had been sublimated during a recent eruption of Mount Vesuvius . On March 26, 1895, Scottish chemist Sir William Ramsay isolated helium on Earth by treating

9044-451: The few minutes after the Big Bang, before the early expanding universe cooled to the temperature and pressure point where helium fusion to carbon was no longer possible. This left the early universe with a very similar ratio of hydrogen/helium as is observed today (3 parts hydrogen to 1 part helium-4 by mass), with nearly all the neutrons in the universe trapped in helium-4. All heavier elements (including those necessary for rocky planets like

9163-540: The ground, they begin the degradation process. Latex balloons are the most used because of their ability to biodegrade . The problem with this is that it can take at least 4 weeks to show substantial degradation of the polymer in the environment, and around 6 months in aquatic environments. This issue can have an effect on the wildlife on both land and in aquatic systems because animals will confuse deflated balloons as food, nesting material, or simply something to play with. When that happens, it can lead to negative effects for

9282-420: The heat. Helium II has no such valence band but nevertheless conducts heat well. The flow of heat is governed by equations that are similar to the wave equation used to characterize sound propagation in air. When heat is introduced, it moves at 20 meters per second at 1.8 K through helium II as waves in a phenomenon known as second sound . Helium II also exhibits a creeping effect. When

9401-416: The helium gas from escaping for several weeks. Foil balloons have been criticized for interfering with power lines . Balloon artists are entertainers who twist and tie inflated tubular balloons into sculptures such as animals (see balloon modelling ). The balloons used for sculpture are made of extra-stretchy rubber so that they can be twisted and tied without bursting. Since the pressure required to inflate

9520-567: The helium stays inside. If helium-3 is used, it can be readily observed by helium nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy . Many fullerenes containing helium-3 have been reported. Although the helium atoms are not attached by covalent or ionic bonds, these substances have distinct properties and a definite composition, like all stoichiometric chemical compounds. Under high pressures helium can form compounds with various other elements. Helium-nitrogen clathrate (He(N 2 ) 11 ) crystals have been grown at room temperature at pressures ca. 10 GPa in

9639-400: The help of chemists Hamilton Cady and David McFarland, he discovered that the gas consisted of, by volume, 72% nitrogen, 15% methane (a combustible percentage only with sufficient oxygen), 1% hydrogen , and 12% an unidentifiable gas. With further analysis, Cady and McFarland discovered that 1.84% of the gas sample was helium. This showed that despite its overall rarity on Earth, helium

9758-409: The idea that when there are more molecules in the same space, more of them will be heading towards a collision course with the wall. The first concept of air pressure within a balloon that is necessary to know is that air pressures "try" to even out. With all the bouncing against the balloon wall (both interior and exterior) there will be a certain amount of expansion/contraction. As air pressure itself

9877-447: The lab. Balloons are used for decorating birthday parties, weddings, corporate functions, school events, and for other festive gatherings. The artists who use the round balloons to build are called "stackers" and the artists who use pencil balloons to build are called "twisters." Most commonly associated with helium balloon decor, more recently balloon decorators have been moving towards the creation of air-filled balloon decorations due to

9996-429: The lines to nitrogen . His letter of congratulations to Ramsay offers an interesting case of discovery, and near-discovery, in science. In 1907, Ernest Rutherford and Thomas Royds demonstrated that alpha particles are helium nuclei by allowing the particles to penetrate the thin glass wall of an evacuated tube , then creating a discharge in the tube, to study the spectrum of the new gas inside. In 1908, helium

10115-427: The mineral cleveite (a variety of uraninite with at least 10% rare-earth elements ) with mineral acids . Ramsay was looking for argon but, after separating nitrogen and oxygen from the gas, liberated by sulfuric acid , he noticed a bright yellow line that matched the D 3 line observed in the spectrum of the Sun. These samples were identified as helium by Lockyer and British physicist William Crookes . It

10234-457: The most common sizes used, there are dozens of other shapes available as well. The most common methods for inflation are air pumps similar to bicycle pumps , electric air compressors , and the mouth. Inflating a balloon with the mouth is difficult and can be dangerous. Particularly well-trained and talented twisters, however, can blow-up several balloons at once, and some can even blow up 160s, which are much more difficult to mouth-inflate than

10353-575: The mouth, a manual or electric inflater (such as a hand pump ), or with a source of compressed gas. When rubber or plastic balloons are filled with helium so that they float, they typically retain their buoyancy for only a day or so, sometimes longer. The enclosed helium atoms escape through small pores in the latex which are larger than the helium atoms. However, some types of balloons are labelled "helium-grade". These balloons are often thicker and have less porosity. Balloons filled with air usually hold their size and shape much longer, sometimes for up to

10472-458: The needs of the moment, they might easily move between the one-balloon or multiple approaches, or they might even incorporate additional techniques such as "weaving" and "stuffing". Modelling techniques have evolved to include a range of very complex moves, and a highly specialized vocabulary has emerged to describe the techniques involved and their resulting creations. Some twisters inflate their balloons with their own lungs, and for many years this

10591-497: The neutral molecule He 2 , which has a large number of band systems , and HgHe, which is apparently held together only by polarization forces. Van der Waals compounds of helium can also be formed with cryogenic helium gas and atoms of some other substance, such as LiHe and He 2 . Theoretically, other true compounds may be possible, such as helium fluorohydride (HHeF), which would be analogous to HArF , discovered in 2000. Calculations show that two new compounds containing

10710-479: The non-renewable natural resource of helium limited in supply. The most common types of balloon decor include arches, columns, centerpieces, balloon drops, sculptures, and balloon bouquets. With the increased aptitude for balloon twisting as well as balloon stacking, the rise of the deco-twister manifests itself as the combination of stacking techniques as well as twisting techniques to create unique and interesting balloon decor options. Party balloons are mostly made of

10829-471: The order of 10 ppb , much higher than the approximately 5 ppt found in the Earth's atmosphere. A number of people, starting with Gerald Kulcinski in 1986, have proposed to explore the Moon, mine lunar regolith, and use the helium-3 for fusion . Liquid helium-4 can be cooled to about 1 K (−272.15 °C; −457.87 °F) using evaporative cooling in a 1-K pot . Similar cooling of helium-3, which has

10948-475: The other, so that the effective nuclear charge Z eff which each electron sees is about 1.69 units, not the 2 charges of a classic "bare" helium nucleus. The nucleus of the helium-4 atom is identical with an alpha particle . High-energy electron-scattering experiments show its charge to decrease exponentially from a maximum at a central point, exactly as does the charge density of helium's own electron cloud . This symmetry reflects similar underlying physics:

11067-402: The pair of neutrons and the pair of protons in helium's nucleus obey the same quantum mechanical rules as do helium's pair of electrons (although the nuclear particles are subject to a different nuclear binding potential), so that all these fermions fully occupy 1s orbitals in pairs, none of them possessing orbital angular momentum, and each cancelling the other's intrinsic spin. This arrangement

11186-477: The perspective of quantum mechanics , helium is the second simplest atom to model, following the hydrogen atom . Helium is composed of two electrons in atomic orbitals surrounding a nucleus containing two protons and (usually) two neutrons. As in Newtonian mechanics, no system that consists of more than two particles can be solved with an exact analytical mathematical approach (see 3-body problem ) and helium

11305-420: The pressure, causing liquid to fountain out of the container. The thermal conductivity of helium II is greater than that of any other known substance, a million times that of helium I and several hundred times that of copper . This is because heat conduction occurs by an exceptional quantum mechanism. Most materials that conduct heat well have a valence band of free electrons which serve to transfer

11424-522: The prohibitive cost of the gas, German Zeppelins were forced to use hydrogen as lifting gas, which would gain infamy in the Hindenburg disaster . The helium market after World War II was depressed but the reserve was expanded in the 1950s to ensure a supply of liquid helium as a coolant to create oxygen/hydrogen rocket fuel (among other uses) during the Space Race and Cold War . Helium use in

11543-401: The record of 11 for the most giant balloons entered in 2 minutes. Water balloons are thin, small rubber balloons filled with a liquid, usually water, instead of a gas, and intended to be easily broken. They are usually used by children, who throw them at each other, trying to get each other wet, as a game, competition, or practical joke . By forcing water out the open end of a water balloon, it

11662-569: The reserve to continue to sell the gas. Other large reserves were in the Hugoton in Kansas , United States, and nearby gas fields of Kansas and the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma . New helium plants were scheduled to open in 2012 in Qatar , Russia, and the US state of Wyoming , but they were not expected to ease the shortage. In 2013, Qatar started up the world's largest helium unit, although

11781-422: The restoring force is the van der Waals force . These waves are known as third sound . Helium remains liquid down to absolute zero at atmospheric pressure, but it freezes at high pressure. Solid helium requires a temperature of 1–1.5 K (about −272 °C or −457 °F) at about 25 bar (2.5 MPa) of pressure. It is often hard to distinguish solid from liquid helium since the refractive index of

11900-443: The rise of worldwide awareness for environmental conservation, some balloon manufacturers started making balloons out of biodegradable materials, which are made entirely of natural recyclable rubber trees . These balloons manufacturing processes preserve the natural state of the material in such a way that allows it to degrade relatively quickly. Some of the manufacturers only use rubber trees that are grown in plantations that receive

12019-571: The second leading producer of helium. Through this time, both helium consumption and the costs of producing helium increased. From 2002 to 2007 helium prices doubled. As of 2012 , the United States National Helium Reserve accounted for 30 percent of the world's helium. The reserve was expected to run out of helium in 2018. Despite that, a proposed bill in the United States Senate would allow

12138-462: The solar spectrum, which he named the D 3 because it was near the known D 1 and D 2 Fraunhofer lines of sodium. He concluded that it was caused by an element in the Sun unknown on Earth. Lockyer named the element with the Greek word for the Sun, ἥλιος ( helios ). It is sometimes said that English chemist Edward Frankland was also involved in the naming, but this is unlikely as he doubted

12257-450: The two phases are nearly the same. The solid has a sharp melting point and has a crystalline structure, but it is highly compressible ; applying pressure in a laboratory can decrease its volume by more than 30%. With a bulk modulus of about 27 MPa it is ~100 times more compressible than water. Solid helium has a density of 0.214 ± 0.006 g/cm at 1.15 K and 66 atm; the projected density at 0 K and 25 bar (2.5 MPa)

12376-461: The universe is helium-4, the vast majority of which was formed during the Big Bang . Large amounts of new helium are created by nuclear fusion of hydrogen in stars . Helium was first detected as an unknown, yellow spectral line signature in sunlight during a solar eclipse in 1868 by Georges Rayet , Captain C. T. Haig, Norman R. Pogson , and Lieutenant John Herschel, and was subsequently confirmed by French astronomer Jules Janssen . Janssen

12495-439: The wind. A balloon which has an engine to propel it is called a dirigible balloon or airship . Angioplasty is a surgical procedure in which very small balloons are inserted into blocked or partially blocked blood vessels near the heart. Once in place, the balloon is inflated to clear or compress arterial plaque , and to stretch the walls of the vessel, thus preventing myocardial infarction . A small stent can be inserted at

12614-683: The world, while extraction plants in Canada, Poland, Russia, and other nations produced the remainder. In the mid-1990s, a new plant in Arzew , Algeria, producing 17 million cubic metres (600 million cubic feet) began operation, with enough production to cover all of Europe's demand. Meanwhile, by 2000, the consumption of helium within the U.S. had risen to more than 15 million kg per year. In 2004–2006, additional plants in Ras Laffan , Qatar , and Skikda , Algeria were built. Algeria quickly became

12733-529: Was a standard and necessary part of the act. However, many now use a pump of some sort, whether it is a hand pump, an electric pump plugged in or run by a battery pack, or a compressed gas tank containing air or nitrogen. Twisters do not generally fill their creations with helium, as these designs will not usually float anyway. The balloons for twisting are too porous for helium and the designs are generally too heavy for their size for helium to lift. The origins of balloon modelling are unknown. The 1975 book by "Jolly

12852-536: Was also vital in the atomic bomb Manhattan Project . The government of the United States set up the National Helium Reserve in 1925 at Amarillo, Texas , with the goal of supplying military airships in time of war and commercial airships in peacetime. Because of the Helium Act of 1925 , which banned the export of scarce helium on which the US then had a production monopoly, together with

12971-409: Was available to make elements 3, 4 and 5. It is barely energetically favorable for helium to fuse into the next element with a lower energy per nucleon , carbon. However, due to the short lifetime of the intermediate beryllium-8, this process requires three helium nuclei striking each other nearly simultaneously (see triple-alpha process ). There was thus no time for significant carbon to be formed in

13090-570: Was concentrated in large quantities under the American Great Plains , available for extraction as a byproduct of natural gas . Following a suggestion by Sir Richard Threlfall , the United States Navy sponsored three small experimental helium plants during World War I. The goal was to supply barrage balloons with the non-flammable, lighter-than-air gas. A total of 5,700 m (200,000 cu ft) of 92% helium

13209-403: Was experimenting with, especially hydrogen. By 1825 similar balloons were being sold by Thomas Hancock , but like Faraday's they came disassembled, as two circles of soft rubber. The user was expected to lay the circles one on top of the other and rub their edges until the soft, gummy rubber stuck, leaving the powdered inner part loose for inflation. Modern, preassembled balloons were being sold in

13328-500: Was first liquefied by Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes by cooling the gas to less than 5 K (−268.15 °C; −450.67 °F). He tried to solidify it by further reducing the temperature but failed, because helium does not solidify at atmospheric pressure. Onnes' student Willem Hendrik Keesom was eventually able to solidify 1 cm of helium in 1926 by applying additional external pressure. In 1913, Niels Bohr published his "trilogy" on atomic structure that included

13447-493: Was independently isolated from cleveite in the same year by chemists Per Teodor Cleve and Abraham Langlet in Uppsala , Sweden, who collected enough of the gas to accurately determine its atomic weight . Helium was also isolated by American geochemist William Francis Hillebrand prior to Ramsay's discovery, when he noticed unusual spectral lines while testing a sample of the mineral uraninite. Hillebrand, however, attributed

13566-695: Was initially skeptical but was ultimately convinced that Bohr was correct, and by 1915 "spectroscopists had transferred [the Pickering–Fowler series] definitively [from hydrogen] to helium." Bohr's theoretical work on the Pickering series had demonstrated the need for "a re-examination of problems that seemed already to have been solved within classical theories" and provided important confirmation for his atomic theory. In 1938, Russian physicist Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa discovered that helium-4 has almost no viscosity at temperatures near absolute zero ,

13685-602: Was injected and stored in the Cliffside gas field until needed, at which time it was further purified. By 1995, a billion cubic meters of the gas had been collected and the reserve was US$ 1.4 billion in debt, prompting the Congress of the United States in 1996 to discontinue the reserve. The resulting Helium Privatization Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–273) directed the United States Department of

13804-457: Was observed on August 18, 1868, as a bright yellow line with a wavelength of 587.49 nanometers in the spectrum of the chromosphere of the Sun . The line was detected by French astronomer Jules Janssen during a total solar eclipse in Guntur , India. This line was initially assumed to be sodium . On October 20 of the same year, English astronomer Norman Lockyer observed a yellow line in

13923-406: Was observed. Existing theory explains this using the two-fluid model for helium II. In this model, liquid helium below the lambda point is viewed as containing a proportion of helium atoms in a ground state , which are superfluid and flow with exactly zero viscosity, and a proportion of helium atoms in an excited state, which behave more like an ordinary fluid. In the fountain effect , a chamber

14042-522: Was possible, almost all first compound atomic nuclei to form were helium-4 nuclei. Owing to the relatively tight binding of helium-4 nuclei, its production consumed nearly all of the free neutrons in a few minutes, before they could beta-decay, and thus few neutrons were available to form heavier atoms such as lithium, beryllium, or boron. Helium-4 nuclear binding per nucleon is stronger than in any of these elements (see nucleogenesis and binding energy ) and thus, once helium had been formed, no energetic drive

14161-517: Was produced in the program even though less than a cubic meter of the gas had previously been obtained. Some of this gas was used in the world's first helium-filled airship, the U.S. Navy's C-class blimp C-7, which flew its maiden voyage from Hampton Roads, Virginia , to Bolling Field in Washington, D.C., on December 1, 1921, nearly two years before the Navy's first rigid helium-filled airship,

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