Like, did someone just come across helium one day, not knowing what it was, and decided to start collecting it in containers? What about neon, hydrogen, and all the others? How did they know where to look, and even when found, how did they collect it without all the gas escaping into the air around them?
In: Earth Science
Helium was discovered by analysing spectral lines from the Sun, and realising that there was an element that that did not exist (or had not been found) on Earth, so they named it after the Sun, (Helios)
Hydrogen was discovered by reacting iron with water. Under anaerobic conditions, this reaction only gives off hydrogen as a gas, so it was pretty easy to produce and contain. They realised that setting fire to hydrogen (reacting it with oxygen) produced water, hence the name *hydro*gen
Argon, krypton, xenon and neon were discovered by liquifying some air, then gradually boiling it. This way, elements and compounds with different boiling points could be separated.
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