Idk how I got onto this but I was just googling shit and I was wondering how we are running out of helium. I read that helium is the one non-renuable element on this planet because it comes from the result of radioactive decay. But from my memory and the D- I got in highschool chemistry, helium is number 2 on the periodic table of elements and hydrogen is number 1, so why can’t we just take a fuck ton of hydrogen, do some chemistry shit and turn it into helium? I know it’s not that simple I just don’t understand why it wouldn’t work.
Edit: I get it, it’s nuclear fusion which is physics, not chemistry. My grades were so back in chemistry that I didn’t take physics. Thank you for explaining it to me!
In: Chemistry
If it hasn’t been mentioned yet, you’d actually need 3 or 4 hydrogen atoms, with one or two of them undergoing Beta+ decay, turning the proton(s) into neutrons.
He-3 has 2 protons and 1 neutron, while He-4 has two of each.
You really need at least one neutron to hold that nucleus together. The 2 protons have a positive charge and repel one another without the strong nuclear force.
Using an isotope of Hydrogen called deuterium would work a lot better. It’s H-2 (has one neutron and one proton). Having the right conditions (heat & pressure) and these guys will fuse into He-4 without requiring any beta decay.
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