Helium has many different uses. One use of helium that peoples don’t often think of or know is that helium is actually used in neon signs. Neon signs are not really neon all of the time. Neon is a specific color and Nobel gasses all burn a different color. If the sign is blue then the “neon” is really argon. Helium burns a bright orange red color when put inside a neon sign tube. Besides being used in signs everyone knows that helium is what people use in balloons, this fun element will make anyone lightheaded while making their voice high pitched and funny.
Helium is used in cryogenics. Helium is used in deep-sea breathing systems. Helium is used to cool superconducting magnets. Scientists can also use helium in helium dating which can tell the age of different things that have died as long as they had helium in them. Helium is used for inflating balloons. Helium is used for providing lift in airships. Helium is also used as a protective gas for many industrial uses.
As you can see, Helium is used in many different ways for many entirely different purposes. The most common is inflating balloons though. When you inflate a balloon you are filling it with compressed helium which is the lightest of all the elements so when you tie the end of the balloon after filling it, and you let go of the balloon it will float up. It does this since it is so much lighter than the gas on the surface of the earth. This effect is much like the separation of water and oil. When you pour water on top of oil the water will sink to the bottom, or if you pour oil on top of water it will stay at the top of the water. This is because of density and weight. Since helium is less dense and lighter it floats willingly up towards the sky.
When used in signs the helium is heated and a current is passed through it so that it produces a color because it is being heated. This is the same for all neon signs. I am unsure of the reason that white signs will turn pink after and during winter. You can find your answer to that on wikipedia. Helium’s glow is used a lot if the bright dark glow of neon is too strong. Balloons are used for all different things such as identifying weather using weather balloons. These are many ways helium is used every day throughout the world. People use it in their jobs, in their lives, when seeing advertisements, and by just staying alive because it is in the air that we breathe.
