Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (1853)
A Dutch physicist and professor at the University of Leiden, Onnes founded in 1884 a cryogenic laboratory that would become a renowned research center for low-temperature physics. He was the first to produce liquid helium, and in the process produced a temperature within a degree of absolute zero. He also discovered superconductivity—the abnormally high electrical conductivity of certain materials at very low temperatures. When he first observed superconductivity, what did he think it was? More… Discuss
Liquid hydrogen (LH2) is the liquid state of the element hydrogen. Hydrogen is found naturally in the molecular H2 form. To exist as a liquid, H2 must be pressurized and cooled to a very low temperature, 20.28 K (−423.17 °F/−252.87°C). One common method of obtaining liquid hydrogen involves a compressor resembling a jet engine in both appearance and principle. Liquid hydrogen is typically used as a concentrated form of hydrogen storage. As in any gas, storing it as liquid takes less space than storing it as a gas at normal temperature and pressure. Once liquefied it can be maintained as a liquid in pressurized and thermally insulated containers.
Liquid hydrogen consists of 99.79% parahydrogen, 0.21% orthohydrogen.
Helium exists in liquid form only at extremely low temperatures. The boiling point and critical point depend on the isotope of the helium; see the table below for values. The density of liquid helium-4 at its boiling point and 1 atm is approximately 0.125 g/mL
Helium-4 was first liquefied on 10 July 1908 by Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes. Liquid helium-4 is used as a cryogenic refrigerant; it is produced commercially for use in superconducting magnets such as those used in MRI or NMR. It is liquefied using the Hampson-Linde cycle.
The temperatures required to liquefy helium are low because of the weakness of the attraction between helium atoms. The interatomic forces are weak in the first place because helium is a noble gas, but the interatomic attraction is reduced even further by quantum effects, which are important in helium because of its low atomic mass. The zero point energy of the liquid is less if the atoms are less confined by their neighbors; thus the liquid can lower its ground state energy by increasing the interatomic distance. But at this greater distance, the effect of interatomic forces is even weaker.
Because of the weak interatomic forces, helium remains liquid down to absolute zero; helium solidifies only under great pressure. At sufficiently low temperature, both helium-3 and helium-4 undergo a transition to a superfluid phase (see table below).
Liquid helium-3 and helium-4 are not completely miscible below 0.9 K at the saturated vapor pressure. Below this temperature a mixture of the two isotopes undergoes phase separation into a lighter normal fluid that is mostly helium-3, and a denser superfluid that is mostly helium-4. (This occurs because the system can lower its enthalpy by separating.) At low temperatures, the helium-4 rich phase may contain up to 6% of helium-3 in solution, which makes possible the existence of the dilution refrigerator, capable of reaching temperatures of a few millikelvin above absolute zero.
Properties of Liquid Helium Helium-4 Helium-3
Critical temperature 5.2 K 3.3 K
Boiling point at 1 atm 4.2 K 3.2 K
Minimum melting pressure 25 atm 29 atm at 0.3 K
Superfluid transition temperature at saturated vapor
pressure 2.17 K 1 m K in zero magnetic field
Category: Science & Technology
Related articles
- Getting started on superconductivity (isnerd.wordpress.com)
- Doped graphite may superconduct at up to 230 degrees celsius (nextbigfuture.com)
- Magic adhesive enables high-temperature superconductivity (dvice.com)
- Inducing superconductivity in a semi-conductor with Scotch Tape (nextbigfuture.com)
euzicasa 