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Helium

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Where does the very light gas helium get its name?

From the Sun. Helium was discovered on the Sun (to be precise, in its spectrum), before it was discovered on Earth.


Where did helium get his name from?

Helium pays homage to Helios, a Greco-Roman sun god. Helium was spectroscopically discovered in the sun"s rays before it was found on earth. It was discovered formally in 1868.


What language did the term helium come from?

Helium was first discovered in the sun spectroscopically. It get its name from the Greek word, Helios, meaning "the sun".


What was discovered by the sun before it was discover on earth?

Helium is a noble gas and will not react chemically with anything. It also has a very low density. Therefore, it was not found combined with other elements either in the sea or in the earth's crust (as are other elements) and neither is it found in any appreciable amounts in the atmosphere - as, like hydrogen, the lightest gas of all, it will escape into space because the earth' gravity is not enough to hold it in the atmosphere. Much of the helium found on earth is obtained fro the decay of radioactive sunstances that give off alpha radiation - alpha particles are the nuclei of helium atoms. Therefore on earth helium is not particularly common. In the sun, however, helium is formed by the fusion of hydrogen atoms to form helium and great deals of energy during thermonuclear reactions that are happening on an enormous scale within the sun. The helium therefore is much more abundant in the sun. All elements, when heated sufficiently, give off light of a particular kind. As an example sodium produces a yellow light (as in sodium street lamps). The light from individual elements can be analysed and the various colours in the light (caused by differing intensities at different wavelengths) - known as the substance's spectrum - acts as a sort of 'fingerprint' for a particular element. When the light from the sun was analysed in this way, the spectrum for hydrogen was present (as the spectrum for hydrogen was well known as the hydrogen spectrum had already been analysed in the laboratory). However another sectrum was also present superimposed on the hydrogen - a spectrum that was unknown. Therefore it was assumed that this was due to an as yet undiscovered element - named 'helium' from the Greek for sun - helios. Only later on was this element, abudant in the sun, discovered on earth where it was much rarer.


What did aristarchus say about the relative motions of the earth and sun?

Yes, Aristarchus of Samos discovered that the earth revolves around the sun.

Related Questions

What element was found after being on the sun for 27 years?

Helium. It was discovered on the Sun many years before it was discovered on Earth.


What element was first discovered in space before it was discovered on earth?

The element helium was first discovered in space through its spectral lines in the sun's spectrum. It was later discovered on Earth through the analysis of uranium ores in 1895.


Helium was discovered in the sun before it was discovered on earth. How?

Helium was discovered in the sun specroscopically


How was the element helium's name and symbol chosen?

The word comes from Helios, the Sun. The element was discovered on the sun before its presence on earth was established. The sun, like most normal sequence stars is made up of hydrogen and helium.


What is a special gas of the sun?

The element "Helium" was unknown on Earth when it was discovered by spectral lines from the Sun. It was later discovered here on Earth, in Texas natural gas deposits.


What element was found on the sun before it was found on earth?

fire


Helium was discovered as component of the?

Helium was first discovered as a component of the sun before being discovered on earth. Hence the name.


Where does the very light gas helium get its name?

From the Sun. Helium was discovered on the Sun (to be precise, in its spectrum), before it was discovered on Earth.


What element was discovered on the sun in 1868?

Hydrogen was discovered.


What does the name helium mean?

Helium is from the Greek word 'helios' meaning 'sun'; the element was given this name because of its yellow appearance


Where did helium get his name from?

Helium pays homage to Helios, a Greco-Roman sun god. Helium was spectroscopically discovered in the sun"s rays before it was found on earth. It was discovered formally in 1868.


What element is for our sun and was first discovered there?

It is Helium a noble gas.