Helium is a noble gas that does not like to make compounds. As it is a lightweight gas, any Helium present on Earth would float away into space. So prior to Helium’s discovery on Earth, the existence of Helium was first found in the Sun. How might this have been possible?

World of Chemistry, 3rd edition
3rd Edition
ISBN:9781133109655
Author:Steven S. Zumdahl, Susan L. Zumdahl, Donald J. DeCoste
Publisher:Steven S. Zumdahl, Susan L. Zumdahl, Donald J. DeCoste
Chapter3: Chemical Foundations: Elements, Atoms, And Ions
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Helium is a noble gas that does not like to make compounds. As it is a lightweight gas, any Helium present on Earth would float away into space. So prior to Helium’s discovery on Earth, the existence of Helium was first found in the Sun. How might this have been possible?

 

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Introduction

Helium has the symbol He and atomic number 2 as a radioactive element. Helium. The first of the noble gas community of the periodic table is a colourless, smellless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas. The lowest of all elements is its boiling point.

Explanation

Before Helium was discovered on Earth, Helium was the second most abundant substance in the universe. The French astronomer Pierre-Jules-César Janssen observed a yellow spectrum line when he was observing a complete solar eclipse in 1868. A British astronomer, Sir Norman Lockyer discovered that no element known at that time could generate this line with a wavelength of 587,49 nanometers. This enigmatic yellow emission was speculated by a new element on the sun. Lockyer called this mysterious element helium.

The Scottish chemist, Sir William Ramsay, performed a uranium mineral experiment called clevite. The clevite was exposed to mineral acids and gases were collected. Then he submitted a sample of these gases, which he noticed in two chemist, Lockyer and Sir William Crookes.

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