而液態氦則用於低溫(單用氦的最大宗,佔了四分之一),特別是在超導磁體的冷卻中,主要的商業應用是在MRI掃描儀中。 在工業上,氦氣有許多用途。例如:作為加壓和吹掃氣體、電弧焊接時的保護氣體、及參與製造晶體的化學反應過程(如製造矽晶圓時,氦氣佔所產生氣體的一半)。日常生活中的小用途則是作為氣球或飛艇上升所需的氣體。[15]與密度和空氣密度不同的任何氣體一樣,吸入少量氦氣會暫時改變人聲的音調。在科研方面,氦(4He)兩個流體相(He I & He II)的表現性,對於科學家在研究量子力學(特別是超流動性的性質)及觀察如超導電性(產於近乎絕對零度)的現象是很重要的。
在美国,2000年至2004年间仅报告了两起氦气死亡事件,其中一名男子于2002年在北卡罗来纳州因气压伤死亡。[64][69]2003年,在温哥华有一名青年窒息,而在2000年有一名27岁的澳大利亚男子在吸入氦气瓶的氦气后发生栓塞。[64]2006年,有两名成年人在南佛罗里达窒息。[64][65][70]在2009年和2010年也有案例,一名加利福尼亚青年被发现头上套着一个挂在一个氦气罐上的袋子,[71]而在北爱尔兰的另一名青少年死于氦气导致的窒息。[72]在俄勒冈州鹰角(英语:Eagle Point, Oregon),一名少女于2012年在一次聚会上死于气压伤。[73][74][75]同年,密歇根州的一名女孩因缺氧而死亡。 [76]
^Shuen-Chen Hwang, Robert D. Lein, Daniel A. Morgan (2005). "Noble Gases". Kirk Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology. Wiley. pp. 343–383. doi:10.1002/0471238961.0701190508230114.a01.
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^Grochala, Wojciech. On the position of helium and neon in the Periodic Table of Elements. Foundations of Chemistry. 2017-11-01, 20 (2018): 191–207. doi:10.1007/s10698-017-9302-7.
^Rayet, G. (1868) "Analyse spectral des protubérances observées, pendant l'éclipse totale de Soleil visible le 18 août 1868, à la presqu'île de Malacca" (Spectral analysis of the protuberances observed during the total solar eclipse, seen on 18 August 1868, from the Malacca peninsula), Comptes rendus ... , 67 : 757–759. From p. 758: " ... je vis immédiatement une série de neuf lignes brillantes qui ... me semblent devoir être assimilées aux lignes principales du spectre solaire, B, D, E, b, une ligne inconnue, F, et deux lignes du groupe G." ( ... I saw immediately a series of nine bright lines that ... seemed to me should be classed as the principal lines of the solar spectrum, B, D, E, b, an unknown line, F, and two lines of the group G.)
^= C. T. Haig (1868) "Account of spectroscopic observations of the eclipse of the sun, August 18th, 1868,"Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, 17 : 74–80. From p. 74: "I may state at once that I observed the spectra of two red flames close to each other, and in their spectra two broad bright bands quite sharply defined, one rose-madder and the other light golden."
^ 13.013.1Pogson filed his observations of the 1868 eclipse with the local Indian government,
but his report wasn't published. (Biman B. Nath, The Story of Helium and the Birth of Astrophysics (New York, New York: Springer, 2013), p. 8.) Nevertheless, Lockyer quoted from his report. From p. 320 (页面存档备份,存于互联网档案馆) of Lockyer, J. Norman (1896) "The story of helium. Prologue," Nature, 53 : 319–322 : "Pogson, in referring to the eclipse of 1868, said that the yellow line was "at D, or near D." "
^Lieutenant John Herschel (1868) "Account of the solar eclipse of 1868, as seen at Jamkandi in the Bombay Presidency,"Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, 17 : 104–120. From p. 113: As the moment of the total solar eclipse approached, " … I recorded an increasing brilliancy in the spectrum in the neighborhood of D, so great in fact as to prevent any measurement of that line till an opportune cloud moderated the light. I am not prepared to offer any explanation of this." From p. 117: "I also consider that there can be no question that the ORANGE LINE was identical with D, so far as the capacity of the instrument to establish any such identity is concerned."
^Rose, Melinda. Helium: Up, Up and Away?. Photonics Spectra. October 2008 [2010-02-27]. (原始内容存档于2010-08-22). For a more authoritative but older 1996 pie chart showing U.S. helium use by sector, showing much the same result, see the chart reproduced in "Applications" section of this article.
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^Thomson, William. Inaugural Address of Sir William Thompson. Nature. 1871-08-03, 4 (92): 261–278 [268] [2013-10-22]. Bibcode:1871Natur...4..261.. doi:10.1038/004261a0. (原始内容存档于2013-06-14). Frankland and Lockyer find the yellow prominences to give a very decided bright line not far from D, but hitherto not identified with any terrestrial flame. It seems to indicate a new substance, which they propose to call Helium
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^Munday, Pat. John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes , 编. Biographical entry for W.F. Hillebrand(1853–1925), geochemist and U.S. Bureau of Standards administrator in American National Biography10–11. Oxford University Press. 1999: 808–9; 227–8.
^ 39.039.1McFarland, D. F. Composition of Gas from a Well at Dexter, Kan. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science. 1903, 19: 60–62. JSTOR 3624173. doi:10.2307/3624173.
^Emme, Eugene M. comp. (编). Aeronautics and Astronautics Chronology, 1920–1924. Aeronautics and Astronautics: An American Chronology of Science and Technology in the Exploration of Space, 1915–1960. Washington, D.C.: NASA. 1961: 11–19 [2019-07-15]. (原始内容存档于2019-07-14).
^Hilleret, N. Leak Detection(PDF). S. Turner (编). CERN Accelerator School, vacuum technology: proceedings: Scanticon Conference Centre, Snekersten, Denmark, 28 May – 3 June 1999. Geneva, Switzerland: CERN. 1999: 203–212 [2019-07-15]. (原始内容存档于2019-07-15). At the origin of the helium leak detection method was the Manhattan Project and the unprecedented leak-tightness requirements needed by the uranium enrichment plants. The required sensitivity needed for the leak checking led to the choice of a mass spectrometer designed by Dr. A.O.C. Nier tuned on the helium mass.
^Smith, E. M.; Goodwin, T. W.; Schillinger, J. Challenges to the Worldwide Supply of Helium in the Next Decade. Advances in Cryogenic Engineering. 49. 2003, A (710): 119–138. doi:10.1063/1.1774674.
^Basu, Sourish. Yam, Philip , 编. Updates: Into Thin Air. Scientific American 297 (4) (Scientific American, Inc.). October 2007: 18 [2008-08-04]. (原始内容存档于2008-12-06).
^ 63.063.1Grassberger, Martin; Krauskopf, Astrid. Suicidal asphyxiation with helium: Report of three cases Suizid mit Helium Gas: Bericht über drei Fälle. Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift. 2007, 119 (9–10): 323–325. PMID 17571238. S2CID 22894287. doi:10.1007/s00508-007-0785-4(德语及英语).