WEBVTT - How Helium Works

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<v Speaker 1>It gets smarter in sixty seconds with brain Stuff from

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff works dot com. Hi, I'm marshall brain. Have

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<v Speaker 1>you ever wondered where helium comes from? It's actually an

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<v Speaker 1>interesting question. If you put helium into a balloon and

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<v Speaker 1>let go of the balloon, the balloon rises until it pops.

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<v Speaker 1>When it pops, the helium that escapes has no reason

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<v Speaker 1>to stop. It just keeps going and leaks out into space. Therefore,

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<v Speaker 1>there is very little helium in the atmosphere at any

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<v Speaker 1>given time. The helium that we put into balloons has

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<v Speaker 1>to be created, and most of it gets created by uranium.

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<v Speaker 1>Most helium on Earth comes from radioactive decay like this.

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<v Speaker 1>A radioactive alpha particle is really just a helium nucleus.

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<v Speaker 1>It picks up a couple of electrons and it becomes

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<v Speaker 1>a helium atom. In places that have a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>uranium ore, natural gas tends to contain high concentrations of helium,

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<v Speaker 1>up to seven percent. This makes sense because the decay

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<v Speaker 1>of uranium emits lots of alpha particles, and a natural

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<v Speaker 1>gas pocket tends to be just a big sealed container

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<v Speaker 1>underground to hold the helium. Helium is cryogenically distilled out

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<v Speaker 1>of the natural gas to produce the helium that we

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<v Speaker 1>put into balloons. Do you have any ideas or suggestions

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<v Speaker 1>for this podcast? If so, please send me an email

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<v Speaker 1>at podcast at how stuff works dot com. For more

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