Isotopes Of Helium
Helium (He) (standard atomic weight: ) has nine known isotopes, but only helium-3 (He) and helium-4 (He) are stable. All radioisotopes are short-lived; the longest-lived is He with half-life . The least stable is He, with half-life (), though He may have an even shorter half-life. In Earth's atmosphere, the ratio of He to He is . However, the isotopic abundance of helium varies greatly depending on its origin. In the Local Interstellar Cloud, the proportion of He to He is , which is ~121 times higher than in Earth's atmosphere. Rocks from Earth's crust have isotope ratios varying by as much as a factor of ten; this is used in geology to investigate the origin of rocks and the composition of the Earth's mantle. The different formation processes of the two stable isotopes of helium produce the differing isotope abundances. Equal mixtures of liquid He and He below separate into two immiscible phases due to differences in quantum statistics: He atoms are bosons while He atoms are ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Helium
Helium (from ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, non-toxic, inert gas, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. Its boiling point is the lowest among all the Chemical element, elements, and it does not have a melting point at standard pressures. It is the second-lightest and second-most Abundance of the chemical elements, abundant element in the observable universe, after hydrogen. It is present at about 24% of the total elemental mass, which is more than 12 times the mass of all the heavier elements combined. Its abundance is similar to this in both the Sun and Jupiter, because of the very high nuclear binding energy (per nucleon) of helium-4 with respect to the next three elements after helium. This helium-4 binding energy also accounts for why it is a product of both nuclear fusion and radioactive decay. The most common isotope of helium in the universe is helium-4, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kelvin
The kelvin (symbol: K) is the base unit for temperature in the International System of Units (SI). The Kelvin scale is an absolute temperature scale that starts at the lowest possible temperature (absolute zero), taken to be 0 K. By definition, the Celsius scale (symbol °C) and the Kelvin scale have the exact same magnitude; that is, a rise of 1 K is equal to a rise of 1 °C and vice versa, and any temperature in degrees Celsius can be converted to kelvin by adding 273.15. The 19th century British scientist Lord Kelvin first developed and proposed the scale. It was often called the "absolute Celsius" scale in the early 20th century. The kelvin was formally added to the International System of Units in 1954, defining 273.16 K to be the triple point of water. The Celsius, Fahrenheit, and Rankine scales were redefined in terms of the Kelvin scale using this definition. The 2019 revision of the SI now defines the kelvin in terms of energy by setting the Bo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alpha Decay
Alpha decay or α-decay is a type of radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits an alpha particle (helium nucleus). The parent nucleus transforms or "decays" into a daughter product, with a mass number that is reduced by four and an atomic number that is reduced by two. An alpha particle is identical to the nucleus of a helium-4 atom, which consists of two protons and two neutrons. It has a charge of and a mass of , and is represented as ^_\alpha. For example, uranium-238 undergoes alpha decay to form thorium-234. While alpha particles have a charge , this is not usually shown because a nuclear equation describes a nuclear reaction without considering the electrons – a convention that does not imply that the nuclei necessarily occur in neutral atoms. Alpha decay typically occurs in the heaviest nuclides. Theoretically, it can occur only in nuclei somewhat heavier than nickel (element 28), where the overall binding energy per nucleon is no longer a maximum a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Helium-4
Helium-4 () is a stable isotope of the element helium. It is by far the more abundant of the two naturally occurring isotopes of helium, making up about 99.99986% of the helium on Earth. Its nucleus is identical to an alpha particle, and consists of two protons and two neutrons. Helium-4 makes up about one quarter of the ordinary matter in the universe by mass, with almost all of the rest being hydrogen. While nuclear fusion in stars also produces helium-4, most of the helium-4 in the Sun and in the universe is thought to have been produced during the Big Bang, known as " primordial helium". However, primordial helium-4 is largely absent from the Earth, having escaped during the high-temperature phase of Earth's formation. On Earth, most naturally occurring helium-4 is produced by the alpha decay of heavy elements in the Earth's crust, after the planet cooled and solidified. When liquid helium-4 is cooled to below , it becomes a superfluid, with properties very different from ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Commission On Isotopic Abundances And Atomic Weights
The Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights (CIAAW) is an international scientific committee of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) under its IUPAC Inorganic Chemistry Division, Division of Inorganic Chemistry. Since 1899, it is entrusted with periodic critical evaluation of atomic weights of chemical elements and other cognate data, such as the Isotope, isotopic composition of elements. The biennial CIAAW Standard atomic weight, Standard Atomic Weights are accepted as the authoritative source in science and appear worldwide on the periodic table wall charts. The use of CIAAW Standard Atomic Weights is also required legally, for example, in calculation of calorific value of natural gas (ISO 6976:1995), or in gravimetric preparation of primary reference standards in gas analysis (ISO 6142:2006). In addition, until 2019 the definition of the Kelvin, the SI unit for thermodynamic temperature, made direct reference to the isotopic composition of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Big Bang Nucleosynthesis
In physical cosmology, Big Bang nucleosynthesis (also known as primordial nucleosynthesis, and abbreviated as BBN) is a model for the production of light nuclei, deuterium, 3He, 4He, 7Li, between 0.01s and 200s in the lifetime of the universe. The model uses a combination of thermodynamic arguments and results from equations for the expansion of the universe to define a changing temperature and density, then analyzes the rates of nuclear reactions at these temperatures and densities to predict the nuclear abundance ratios. Refined models agree very well with observations with the exception of the abundance of 7Li. The model is one of the key concepts in standard cosmology. Elements heavier than lithium are thought to have been created later in the life of the Universe by stellar nucleosynthesis, through the formation, evolution and death of stars. Characteristics The Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) model assumes a homogeneous plasma, at a temperature corresponding to 1 MeV, co ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Helium-3
Helium-3 (3He see also helion) is a light, stable isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron. (In contrast, the most common isotope, helium-4, has two protons and two neutrons.) Helium-3 and hydrogen-1 are the only stable nuclides with more protons than neutrons. It was discovered in 1939. Helium-3 atoms are fermionic and become a superfluid at the temperature of 2.491 mK. Helium-3 occurs as a primordial nuclide, escaping from Earth's crust into its atmosphere and into outer space over millions of years. It is also thought to be a natural nucleogenic and cosmogenic nuclide, one produced when lithium is bombarded by natural neutrons, which can be released by spontaneous fission and by nuclear reactions with cosmic rays. Some found in the terrestrial atmosphere is a remnant of atmospheric and underwater nuclear weapons testing. Nuclear fusion using helium-3 has long been viewed as a desirable future energy source. The fusion of two of its atoms would be aneut ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Deuterium
Deuterium (hydrogen-2, symbol H or D, also known as heavy hydrogen) is one of two stable isotopes of hydrogen; the other is protium, or hydrogen-1, H. The deuterium nucleus (deuteron) contains one proton and one neutron, whereas the far more common H has no neutrons. The name ''deuterium'' comes from Greek '' deuteros'', meaning "second". American chemist Harold Urey discovered deuterium in 1931. Urey and others produced samples of heavy water in which the H had been highly concentrated. The discovery of deuterium won Urey a Nobel Prize in 1934. Nearly all deuterium found in nature was synthesized in the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago, forming the primordial ratio of H to H (~26 deuterium nuclei per 10 hydrogen nuclei). Deuterium is subsequently produced by the slow stellar proton–proton chain, but rapidly destroyed by exothermic fusion reactions. The deuterium–deuterium reaction has the second-lowest energy threshold, and is the most astrophysically acce ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Positron Emission
Positron emission, beta plus decay, or β+ decay is a subtype of radioactive decay called beta decay, in which a proton inside a radionuclide nucleus is converted into a neutron while releasing a positron and an electron neutrino (). Positron emission is mediated by the weak force. The positron is a type of beta particle (β+), the other beta particle being the electron (β−) emitted from the β− decay of a nucleus. An example of positron emission (β+ decay) is shown with magnesium-23 decaying into sodium-23: : → + + Because positron emission decreases proton number relative to neutron number, positron decay happens typically in large "proton-rich" radionuclides. Positron decay results in nuclear transmutation, changing an atom of one chemical element into an atom of an element with an atomic number that is less by one unit. Positron emission occurs extremely rarely in nature on Earth. Known instances include cosmic ray interactions and the decay of certain isotopes, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Proton Emission
Proton emission (also known as proton radioactivity) is a rare type of radioactive decay in which a proton is ejected from a atomic nucleus, nucleus. Proton emission can occur from high-lying excited states in a nucleus following a beta decay, in which case the process is known as beta-delayed proton emission, or can occur from the ground state (or a low-lying nuclear isomer, isomer) of very proton-rich nuclei, in which case the process is very similar to alpha decay. For a proton to escape a nucleus, the proton separation energy must be negative (Sp < 0)—the proton is therefore unbound, and quantum tunneling, tunnels out of the nucleus in a finite time. The rate of proton emission is governed by the nuclear, Coulomb, and centrifugal potentials of the nucleus, where centrifugal potential affects a large part of the rate of proton emission. The half-life of a nucleus with respect to proton emission is affected by the proton energy and its orbital angular momentum. Proton emiss ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Proton–proton Chain
The proton–proton chain, also commonly referred to as the chain, is one of two known sets of nuclear fusion reactions by which stars convert hydrogen to helium. It dominates in stars with masses less than or equal to that of the Sun, whereas the CNO cycle, the other known reaction, is suggested by theoretical models to dominate in stars with masses greater than about 1.3 solar masses. In general, proton–proton fusion can occur only if the kinetic energy (temperature) of the protons is high enough to overcome their mutual electrostatic repulsion. In the Sun, deuteron-producing events are rare. Diprotons are the much more common result of proton–proton reactions within the star, and diprotons almost immediately decay back into two protons. Since the conversion of hydrogen to helium is slow, the complete conversion of the hydrogen initially in the core of the Sun is calculated to take more than ten billion years. Although sometimes called the "proton–proton chain ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin–Ovchinnikov Phase
The Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin–Ovchinnikov (FFLO) phase (also occasionally called the Larkin–Ovchinnikov–Fulde–Ferrell phase, or LOFF) can arise in a superconductor under large magnetic fields. Among its characteristics are Cooper pairs with nonzero total momentum and a spatially non-uniform order parameter, leading to normally conducting areas in the system. History Two independent publications in 1964, one by Peter Fulde and Richard A. Ferrell and the other by Anatoly Larkin and Yuri Ovchinnikov, theoretically predicted a new state appearing in a certain regime of superconductors at low temperatures and in high magnetic fields. This particular superconducting state is nowadays known as the Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin–Ovchinnikov state, abbreviated FFLO state (also LOFF state). Since then, experimental observations of the FFLO state have been searched for in different classes of superconducting materials, first in thin films and later in more exotic superconductors such ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |