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Helium (Element): Elements
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Helium is the second most abundant element in the universe. Only hydrogen occurs more often than helium. Helium is ... the second simplest of the chemical elements. Its atoms consist of two protons, two neutrons, and two electrons. Only the hydrogen atom is simpler than a helium atom. The hydrogen atom has one proton, one electron, and no neutrons.
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Helium is the second most abundant element in the known Universe after hydrogen and constitutes 23% of the elemental mass of the universe. It is concentrated in stars, where it is formed from hydrogen by the nuclear fusion of the proton-proton chain reaction and CNO cycle. According to the Big Bang model of the early development of the universe, the vast majority of helium was formed during Big Bang nucleosynthesis, from one to three minutes after the Big Bang. As such, measurements of its abundance contribute to cosmological models.
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Helium was first discovered not on Earth, but in the Sun. In 1868 French astronomer Pierre Janssen (1824-1907) studied light from the Sun during a solar eclipse. He found proof that a new element existed in the Sun. He called the element helium.
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Helium was first detected during a solar eclipse in 1868 as a bright yellow line in the spectrum of the chromosphere of the Sun, by French astronomer Pierre Janssen . It was discovered by Sir William Ramsey in 1895. Norman Lockyer and English chemist Edward Frankland named the element.
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Helium is a member of the noble gas family. The noble gases are the elements in Group 18 (VIIIA) of the periodic table. The periodic table is a chart that shows how the elements are related to one another. The noble gases are ... called the inert gases. Inert means that an element is not very active. It will not combine with other elements or compounds.
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Helium solidifies only under great pressure. The resulting colorless, almost invisible solid is highly compressible; applying pressure in the laboratory can decrease its volume by more than 30%.[2] With a bulk modulus on the order of 5×107 Pa[3] it is 50 times more compressible than water. Unlike any other element, helium will fail to solidify and remain a liquid down to absolute zero at normal pressures. Solid helium requires a temperature of 1–1.5K (about −272°C or −457°F) and about 26 standard atmospheres (2.6 MPa) of pressure.[4] It is often hard to distinguish solid from liquid helium since the refractive index of the two phases are nearly the same. The solid has a sharp melting point and has a crystalline structure.
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