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
You’ve just described a nuclear fusion reactor. We’re working on it!
It takes a lot of energy to fuse two hydrogen atoms together, and thus isn’t economical at the moment.
There’s also lots of Helium-3 on the moon. Establishing humans on the moon permanently isn’t just about scientific achievement.
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