Why is helium and not hydrogen now used to make airships float?
Answers:
cos hydrogen is explosive, remember hindenburg?
Because hydrogen is very highly flammable and helium is an inert gas. Inert gases are not flammable nor poisonous.
Hydrogen is highy explosive. Helium while not quite as light and as accessible as Hydrogen is inert.
its is like helium ballons, and you fill them with helium to float, and if you let go of them you loose them. hydrogen doesnt do that, and is more expensive probably.
because it doesn't go ' BANG '
When we come up with the Bad Year Blimp for kamakazi runs, we'll use hydrogen again.
Besides being highly explosive, hydrogen is super small and difficult to keep contained. Helium is small but a lot larger than hydrogen. Helium is plentiful and a lot safer.
HELIUM IS NON FLAMABLE HYDROGEN IS HIGHLY INFLAMMABLE
THE R101 AND THE HINDENBURG BOTH BURST INTO FLAMES USING HYDRAGEN SO HELIUM WAS USED INSTEAD.
Helium = inert gas not explosive
Hydrogen = flamable very explosive
Prevents explosions
I believe its down to the fact that Helium is far less reactive and therefore less likely to explode than Hydrogen.
Hydrogen vs helium
If we compare the first two elements in the periodic table, hydrogen and helium, they both have the same basic structure of a nucleus and orbiting electrons.
However, while hydrogen has only one proton in its nucleus, helium has two protons, along with two neutrons.
Equally, while hydrogen only has one electron orbiting, helium has two.
Bottom line, they are both lighter than air and can be used in balloons for lift.
Helium is more stable, and also cheaper.
hydrogen is awkward so no-one likes working with it
HYDROGEN IS OF COURSE THE LIGHTEST GAS WHICH SCORES HIGH WHEN FLOATING SUCH A VESSLE,HOWEVER IT'S ALSO VEROCIOUSLY REACTIVE-NOT AT ALL SUITABLE FOR COMERCIAL TRANSPORT.
When the pilot talks to the passengers he can take a little breath of Helium & speak like donald duck.. breaks the monotony on a long flight..QUACK QUACK!!
KAAABLAAAAAM!!
see above for answer.
So that they will not explode
helium is non explosive where hydrogen blows up very readily.see the Hindenburg disaster
Can you say .fire?
Would you cross the ocean on a bomb?
Actually folks the current theory on the Hindenburg is that the skin, not the Hydrogen is the culprit. The skin was covered in a Aluminum oxide mix simular to soild rocket fuel. In the Hindenburg fire there were visible flames. Hydrogen burns clear.
As for the question asked, all are on the mark. The Germans wanted to used hydrogen. But the USA had most of the world's Helium. After Hitler took power, the deal to sell the helium fell through.
Coz hydrogen is very explosive and highly flammable, while helium is the exact opposite. Read this if your free,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hindenburg_.
hydrogen doesn't make your voice go all funny
and on those long, slow journeys you need all the entertainment you can get.
Helium has almost as much lift as hydrogen, and does not burn.
Why do people like alicat answer questions they don't know the answer to?
As others have said, Hydrogen is highly flamable where as helium isn't. Hydrogen is actually quite a lot lighter than Helium though so it provides more lift. So appart from the flamablity issue is is better than helium in that respect.
It is also true that current thinking now puts the Hindenburg disaster down to static electricity and the material the skin was made of.
Helium is an inert gas which means it is not combustable, unlike hydrogen which is quite combustable. Remember the test tube of hydrogen and lighted splint, the pop is amusing but a large volume of hydrogen would be lethal.
errr kaboom!,
hindenberg, remember,
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