The helium used to fill birthday balloons doesn't come out of the air, but from out of the ground. Some of the gas might escape from the ground into the

atmosphere, but the majority of it is trapped in Earth's crust. Based on what you have learned in today's lab, give a reasonable explanation for the presence of helium gas in Earth's crust.

Question

Physics

Kamryn Reilly

7 March, 07:53

The helium used to fill birthday balloons doesn't come out of the air, but from out of the ground. Some of the gas might escape from the ground into the

atmosphere, but the majority of it is trapped in Earth's crust. Based on what you have learned in today's lab, give a reasonable explanation for the presence of helium gas in Earth's crust.

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Answers (2)

Know the Answer?

Keyon Lambert · Answer 1

I wasn't there with you in today's lab, so I didn't learn anything there. You'll have to either answer this one on your own, or else ask someone else who was there in lab, and might have learned something there.

Veronica Marsh · Answer 2

Helium is trapped in Earth's crust mainly as a by-product of decay chain cycle of radioactive isotopes including Uranium-238, Uranium-235 and Thorium-232. These radioactive isotopes continually decay to emit radioactive particles including alpha, beta and gamma rays. When an alpha particle, each containing two protons and two neutrons, collide with two electrons, they form a helium atom. Since earth's crust contains these radioactive particles, therefore much of helium is produced within earth's crust and gets trapped in it.