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From: gelfand@valid.UUCP (Brooks Gelfand)
Newsgroups: misc.misc,sci.misc
Subject: Re: Helium Balloons
Message-ID: <729@valid.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 23-Oct-86 16:58:19 EDT
Article-I.D.: valid.729
Posted: Thu Oct 23 16:58:19 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 25-Oct-86 06:49:55 EDT
References: <520@zen.BERKELEY.EDU> <246@tekirl.UUCP>
Distribution: na
Organization: Valid Logic, San Jose, CA
Lines: 19
Xref: watmath misc.misc:112 sci.misc:15

> In article <520@zen.BERKELEY.EDU>, mikel@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Mike Liang) writes:
> > [POP!]
> > 
> > I just opened up my dead helium ballon of two days to breath in and speak like
> > like Donald Duck today and it didn't work.  Does the helium mutate or diffuse
> > out of the balloon and regular air diffuse in or what?
> > 
> 
> Helium will diffuse through ANYTHING!  It is a very small molecule (it comes
> in twos--He2) and is almost impossible to keep in or out of things.  In high
[part of article deleted]
> Don Chitwood
> Tektronix, Inc.

You are right the Helium molecule is small. It is also monoatomic. Helium
is one of the Noble (inert) gases. You have a hard time getting it to 
combine with anything, even itself. 

Brooks Gelfand