Posted on 06/21/2012 8:49:19 AM PDT by Impala64ssa
One word, “Hydrogen”. Just tell the kiddies to keep it away from open flames...
Hydrogen party balloons. Just don't rub them on your head or sweater to create a spark. Oh, the humanity!
Congress forced the DOD to sell off its stockpile of helium. Now that’s gone, and we don’t have much of a stockpile. It’s too valuable to be wasted in balloons.
Most of the U.S.’s Helium was originally coming from a well in Amarillo Texas. All those WWII blimps etc. got it there. Must be tapped out I guess...
The 10 Most Abundant Elements in the Universe
Source: Exploring Chemical Elements and their Compounds; David L. Heiserman, 1992
Element | Abundance measured relative to silicon |
Hydrogen | 40,000 |
Helium | 3,100 |
Oxygen | 22 |
Neon | 8.6 |
Nitrogen | 6.6 |
Carbon | 3.5 |
Silicon | 1 |
Magnesium | 0.91 |
Iron | 0.6 |
Sulfur | 0.38 |
I’ll just put a tube on my “Mr. Fusion” and drain off the helium it creates.
There are ~ 250 full bottles of helium sitting on pallets over at the UCAR campus nearby, figured they’re either going to launch a big package or have a really big party.
let’s all talk like Donald Duck.
I have highlighted the solution and the problem.
Helium is abundant in the rest of the Universe, but relatively scarce here on Earth. The reason? Helium can escape Earth’s gravity and dissipate into outer space.
Unfortunately, most of that helium is found inside stars like our sun. You can go get as much as you want, but to keep from burning up I’d advise you to go at night.
my guess is that a 60/30,10 helium, hydrogen, nitrogen mix would be ok for balloons, non explosive and relatively cheap.
you only need 30 for the hydrogen because it has a much bigger lifting ability than helium which allows you put in a very cheap 10 percent nitrogen component.
Just like many other resources, China is willing to pay more. This creates shortages.
Must be all the folks in this economy opting for helium suicide kits...
liquid helium is essential for low temperature physics work.
my guess is that is what it is for.
liquid helium is essential for low temperature physics work.
my guess is that is what it is for.
Looks like there is also a shortage of paragraphs too
Better still mix it with about 1/3 volume of O2, get a long string, glue black powder or pyrodex around the last 8 inches or so of the string, tie the pyrodex end of the string to the baloon (or tape it), start the string smoldering at the other end, and let it go. You can hear a large one from over a mile away. (The things one does as a college student)
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