Meaning & use
helium
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Meaning
noununcountablechemistry
A very light, colorless gas that does not burn and is used to fill balloons and to cool scientific equipment.
Grammar: No plural and no article for the gas itself: they filled the balloons with helium.
Patterns
- filled with helium
- liquid helium
The party shop filled fifty balloons with helium.
Helium is the second most abundant element in the universe.
Scanners in hospitals use liquid helium to keep their magnets extremely cold.
Common combinations
- helium balloon
- The child let go of her helium balloon and watched it drift away.
- liquid helium
- Liquid helium keeps the magnets in an MRI scanner cold.
- helium shortage
- A helium shortage made party balloons more expensive.
- fill with helium
- We need to fill the airship with helium before sunrise.
- inhale helium
- If you inhale helium, your voice sounds high and squeaky.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- heliocentric adjective
- having the sun at the center
- helium-filled adjective
- full of helium gas
- noble gas noun
- the chemical group helium belongs to
Commonly confused: helium or hydrogen?
helium vs hydrogen
Hydrogen is a different gas, symbol H, that catches fire easily. Helium, symbol He, does not burn.
Practice
Why are party balloons usually filled with helium rather than hydrogen?
Choose one answer.
Helium is lighter than air and does not catch fire, which makes it safe for balloons. Hydrogen also floats but is flammable.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “helium”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.