Helium is used for much more than balloons

But many individuals really don’t recognize that there is a further reason to cling on to those balloons: The helium inside of is a rare source.

“I consider that just one of the coolest things is that helium is the second-most considerable component in the whole universe, but ironically, on world Earth, we only have very, really small quantities,” explained Santiago Toledo, a chemist at American University in Washington, D.C.

This is legitimate for a several causes. For instance, helium atoms don’t like to make bonds with other factors or even on their own. This outcomes in them having a quite lower density — substantially reduced than the density of the particles that make up air, Toledo mentioned.

So when you force a bunch of helium into an enclosed room, these types of as a balloon, that small density permits the helium to increase previously mentioned the heavier air around it. This is why helium balloons float.

It is also why Earth has so very little of the things, he mentioned. Most of the planet’s helium is locked absent underground, usually as a combination with normal gasoline, explained Toledo. But any time helium is uncovered to open air, it will disappear into room.

This is sort of undesirable news, simply because helium has lots of employs beyond birthday bash decorations. When most of us know it as a gasoline, helium results in being a liquid at extremely cold temperatures.

“We’re conversing about temperatures that are just about what is called ‘absolute zero,’ which is the coldest just about anything can be in the universe,” Toledo said. Simply because of this quirk, experts use liquid helium to keep quite a few types of devices ice-cold.

If you have at any time experienced to get a medical exam termed an MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, helium was there to amazing the superconducting magnets that make the equipment work. In addition, helium is essential for producing electronic units this kind of as smartphones, as properly as the fiber-optic cables that give us the online. Helium is also needed to make positive NASA’s rockets do the job adequately and is an vital aspect of equipment termed magnetometers, which aid the U.S. armed forces detect enemy submarines.

The very good news, stated Toledo, is that balloons do not consist of only helium, but rather a combination of lightweight gases. Nevertheless when he sees a person get loose into the sky, all he can feel about is how a valuable source is just floating up, up and away.