Helium Supplies on Earth

When most people hear the word helium, they think of party balloons filled with the gas. But where does the gas in those large balloon-filling canisters come from? Before answering the question, a little description of helium is necessary.

Helium is an element in the noble gas group on the periodic table of elements, is inert, not poisonous, colorless and odorless. It's represented by the symbol, He. It is commonly believed that helium was first discovered in 1868 by an astronomer. Helium and hydrogen are the most frequent elements found in the universe, with helium running second to hydrogen. When hydrogen undergoes nuclear fusion, helium is formed. However, on Earth, helium is actually fairly rare. This is because when it is created in the atmosphere, it floats away into space because it is a light gas that can easily escape the atmosphere.

So, if helium can easily escape from the Earth, how is it collected for use? Well, helium can be trapped underground. When radioactive minerals decay, helium can result from the alpha particles given off by the decaying of the minerals. As the minerals decay, rocks in the Earth's crust prevent the helium from escaping into the atmosphere. Another gas, natural gas, is also similarly trapped by rocks. Because of this, helium is often trapped with natural gas deposits and is then extracted from the natural gas.

It was in 1903 that the huge deposits of helium were found in the United States. In Kansas, oil drillers struck a deposit of gas that included a large concentration of helium. The resulting geyser didn't burn, so a geologist investigated and found that helium was in the gaseous geyser. This proved that helium was on Earth and found in natural gas deposits. It could be extracted by a distillation process that separated it from the natural gas. Since this time, the United States has become the biggest supplier of helium for recreational and industrial uses. Although helium is found in other countries, the greatest concentrations seem to be in the United States.

Helium isn't only used for inflating balloons, but is also used for welding and breathing apparatus systems for deep sea divers. And during World War I, the military used helium to fill airships and military balloons.

Helium was soon preferred to hydrogen since hydrogen is not inert and can burn or explode if used for airships or balloons. An example of a terrible hydrogen filled airship tragedy is the Hindenburg which caught fire and quickly destroyed the airship and passengers. In the 1950s, liquified helium was used to cool the hydrogen and oxygen mixture used as rocket fuel.

Since helium is found in underground deposits, it stands to reason that the deposits will be depleted one day if too much helium is extracted before it can replenish itself. Scientists can artificially create helium, but the expense outweighs the feasibility of it. So, next time you're buying helium balloons for a party, take a minute to think where the helium comes from and consider that as the helium escapes from the balloon over time, it will float away and escape the Earth's atmosphere, ending up in outer space. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium) (http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele002.html)