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drpaladin

Posted

Helium comes from the Greek Helios, who was the god of the Sun. The element was discovered as a yellow spectral line in a solar eclipse in 1868. 

The famous Collossus of Rhodes was a depiction of Helios.

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Bill W

Posted

Sucking helium out of a balloon may seem like fun and can make sound very strange, but when you inhale helium, it replaces oxygen in your bloodstream during gas exchange. This can lead to asphyxia (oxygen deprivation) and loss of consciousness, sometimes without warning. You might fall and injure yourself, even if you start breathing normally again.

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  • Site Moderator
drpaladin

Posted

13 minutes ago, Bill W said:

Sucking helium out of a balloon may seem like fun and can make sound very strange, but when you inhale helium, it replaces oxygen in your bloodstream during gas exchange. This can lead to asphyxia (oxygen deprivation) and loss of consciousness, sometimes without warning. You might fall and injure yourself, even if you start breathing normally again.

Taking hits off a balloon presents little risk. However, people should never try intaking helium directly from compressed bottles of the gas.

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sandrewn

Posted

Just the facts:

Helium Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

Our 'Word of the Day' did help answer  something that I have always wondered about and now I know, thank you.

Is helium the same as laughing gas?

Nitrous oxide is also known as whippets, laughing gas/ balloons, not to be confused with helium. The gas is a depressant drug which can make a person feel relaxed. Some people may get giggly, hence the name 'laughing gas'.

The above explanation, might of not been all together clear and left some confusion. So go to the following and have no doubts at all:

Is Laughing Gas Just Helium?

 

Something new every day,

life goes on.

:cowboy:

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JamesSavik

Posted (edited)

There are two notable properties of Helium that make it interesting.

  • Helium is a noble gas. Noble gasses have unique electron shell configurations which bind their electrons in tight and refuse to form bonds with other elements. Chemically, they simply refuse to react with anything. They appear along the right side of the periodic table and refuse to associate themselves with other elemental riffraff.
  • All known Helium on earth is the product of nuclear decay. It can be extracted from natural gas, but its concentrations vary, and it is a difficult and expensive task. Alpha particles, the nuclei of Helium, are emitted by naturally occurring radioactive isotopes. 
Edited by JamesSavik
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