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Based on molecular orbital theory, He 2 should not exist, and a chemical bond cannot form between the atoms. However, the van der Waals force exists between helium atoms as shown by the existence of liquid helium, and at a certain range of distances between atoms the attraction exceeds the repulsion.
In Earth's atmosphere, the ratio of 3 He to 4 He is 1.343(13) × 10 −6. [5] However, the isotopic abundance of helium varies greatly depending on its origin. In the Local Interstellar Cloud , the proportion of 3 He to 4 He is 1.62(29) × 10 −4 , [ 6 ] which is ~121 times higher than in Earth's atmosphere.
Liquid helium is a physical state of helium at very low temperatures at standard atmospheric pressures.Liquid helium may show superfluidity.. At standard pressure, the chemical element helium exists in a liquid form only at the extremely low temperature of −269 °C (−452.20 °F; 4.15 K).
[132] [133] The concentration is low and fairly constant despite the continuous production of new helium because most helium in the Earth's atmosphere escapes into space by several processes. [134] [135] [136] In the Earth's heterosphere, a part of the upper atmosphere, helium and hydrogen are the most abundant elements.
The point's name derives from the graph (pictured) that results from plotting the specific heat capacity as a function of temperature (for a given pressure in the above range, in the example shown, at 1 atmosphere), which resembles the Greek letter lambda. The specific heat capacity has a sharp peak as the temperature approaches the lambda point.
Since the atmosphere of the Earth has a mass of about 5.14 × 10 18 kilograms (1.133 × 10 19 lb), [24] the mass of 3 He in the Earth's atmosphere is the product of these numbers, or about 37,000 tonnes (36,000 long tons; 41,000 short tons) of 3 He. (In fact the effective figure is ten times smaller, since the above ppm are ppmv and not ppmw.
This condensation occurs in liquid helium-4 at a far higher temperature (2.17 K) than it does in helium-3 (2.5 mK) because each atom of helium-4 is a boson particle, by virtue of its zero spin. Helium-3, however, is a fermion particle, which can form bosons only by pairing with itself at much lower temperatures, in a weaker process that is ...
All heavier elements—including those necessary for rocky planets like the Earth, and for carbon-based or other life—thus had to be produced, since the Big Bang, in stars which were hot enough to fuse elements heavier than hydrogen. All elements other than hydrogen and helium today account for only 2% of the mass of atomic matter in the ...