The discovery that helium and iron can mix at the temperatures and pressures found at the center of Earth could settle a long-standing debate over how our planet formed.

Normal helium, which is 700,000 times more common than helium-3, is called helium-4 because it has two protons and two neutrons. Whereas helium-4 is a common product of the decay of radioactive ...

Earth appears to be a chill blue planet, but deep down, it’s really a metalhead. Its outer core is mostly molten iron (and ...

That is, helium which differs from normal helium, or 4 He, so called because it contains two protons and two neutrons and is continuously produced by radioactive decay. Primordial helium ...

The atom is neutral as it has two positive protons and two negative electrons. A helium atom that has lost or gained an electron is an ion. The ion has two positive protons but one electron so it ...

This rare form of helium is called helium-3 because it has two protons and one neutron in its nucleus. Normal helium, which is 700,000 times more common than helium-3, is called helium-4 because ...

For example, a helium atom has an atomic mass of 4, but an atomic number (or positive charge) of 2. Since electrons have almost no mass, it seemed that something besides the protons in the nucleus ...

A helium atom has two electrons in an energy level outside the nucleus. The atom is neutral as it has two positive protons and two negative electrons. A helium atom that has lost or gained an ...

Primordial helium from the beginning of the solar system may be stuck inside Earth's solid core, new research suggests. The findings could have implications for a long-standing debate about how ...

To go further: What is helium-3? Helium-3 is a rare isotope of helium, composed of two protons and a single neutron. Unlike helium-4, produced by radioactive decay, helium-3 is primordial, meaning it ...