Helium and Argon - Comparison - Properties

This article contains comparison of key thermal and atomic properties of helium and argon, two comparable chemical elements from the periodic table. It also contains basic descriptions and applications of both elements. Helium vs Argon.

helium and argon - comparison

Compare helium with another element

Compare argon with another element

Helium and Argon – About Elements

Helium

It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas, the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. Its boiling point is the lowest among all the elements.

Argon

Argon is the third-most abundant gas in the Earth’s atmosphere, at 0.934% (9340 ppmv). It is more than twice as abundant as water vapor (which averages about 4000 ppmv, but varies greatly), 23 times as abundant as carbon dioxide (400 ppmv), and more than 500 times as abundant as neon (18 ppmv). Argon is mostly used as an inert shielding gas in welding and other high-temperature industrial processes where ordinarily unreactive substances become reactive; for example, an argon atmosphere is used in graphite electric furnaces to prevent the graphite from burning.

Helium in Periodic Table

Argon in Periodic Table

Source: www.luciteria.com

Helium and Argon – Applications

Helium

Helium is used for many purposes that require some of its unique properties, such as its low boiling point, low density, low solubility, high thermal conductivity, or inertness. Of the 2014 world helium total production of about 32 million kg (180 million standard cubic meters) helium per year, the largest use (about 32% of the total in 2014) is in cryogenic applications, most of which involves cooling the superconducting magnets in medical MRI scanners and NMR spectrometers. Most clinical magnets are superconducting magnets, which require liquid helium to keep them very cold.

Argon

The major applications of argon include the following: electric lamps as filler gas, welding purpose, discharge tubes, argon lasers and argon-dye lasers. Argon is mostly used as an inert shielding gas in welding and other high-temperature industrial processes where ordinarily unreactive substances become reactive; for example, an argon atmosphere is used in graphite electric furnaces to prevent the graphite from burning. Argon is also used in incandescent, fluorescent lighting, and other gas-discharge tubes.

Helium and Argon – Comparison in Table

Helium

Element	Helium	Argon
Density	0.00018 g/cm3	0.00178 g/cm3
Ultimate Tensile Strength	N/A	N/A
Yield Strength	N/A	N/A
Young’s Modulus of Elasticity	N/A	N/A
Mohs Scale	N/A	N/A
Brinell Hardness	N/A	N/A
Vickers Hardness	N/A	N/A
Melting Point	-272.2 °C	-189.2 °C
Boiling Point	-268.9 °C	-185.7 °C
Thermal Conductivity	0.1513 W/mK	0.01772 W/mK
Thermal Expansion Coefficient	— µm/mK	— µm/mK
Specific Heat	5.193 J/g K	0.52 J/g K
Heat of Fusion	0.0138 kJ/mol	1.188 kJ/mol
Heat of Vaporization	0.0845 kJ/mol	6.447 kJ/mol