The United States supplies most of the world with me. I am mainly found in Texas, Utah, Oklahoma, and Kansas. When radioactive substance in the Earth's core decay, I am emitted. In wells, natural gas contains a small amount of helium. If one cools this gas to -185 C, and compress it, the remaining substance will be 98% pure helium. This is the main way that I am obtained.

I will now describe myself. I am the first element in Group 8 of the Periodic table. I am a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas. I will not combine with other elements or myself. I am most commonly found with the atomic number of four, two protons and two neutrons. My symbol is He. I have the atomic number of two. I have a very small density --. 0001664 grams per cubic centimeter at twenty degrees Celsius. I change to liquid when I am cooled to -268.9 C, four degrees Celsius above absolute zero. I am the only element that cannot be changed to a solid just by cooling; I must be compressed and cooled. I do not like freezing. I try to resist as much as I can, but if I am cooled down to -272.2 C and put under a pressure of 26 times atmospheric pressure, I do freeze. When I am in the liquid state, I conduct heat extremely well. I expand when I am heated and I leave a trace on everything I touch. I do this so I can escape easily. I also can travel up hill and I am nonflammable.

I am very important in low-temperature research. When I am liquid, I can be placed on other atoms. When I am put on them, they are so cold they slow down a great deal and can be observed a lot easier. I am used in "hot air balloons" as a lifting gas. I am also used in blimps and dirigibles. The element hydrogen was very mad at me because these used to be his jobs. I also help out deep-sea divers, and those who work high pressure, like people in undersea laboratories and those who do the underwater building of tunnels and foundations. I am used for breathing, in combination with my buddy oxygen, because decompression can be a lot less painful when I am used. I replaced nitrogen in this job because he causes the painful and sometimes fatal condition called the "bends" or caisson disease. I am also a better choice for deep-sea divers because with the use of nitrogen comes the condition called nitrogen narcosis; (this is a state of euphoria that may impair the judgement of the individual). A mixture of oxygen and me also helps those who suffer from asthma. I am used to cool nuclear reactors, too. I am also used as an inert-gas environment where other elements can be made. Here are a few more of my uses: gas-lubricated bearings, neutron counters, gas thermometers, X-ray spectrographs, food preservatives, high-tension switch boxes, and outdoor neon signs. There are uses for me that are still gaining importance. I am used as a coolant for superconducting magnets used in particle accelerators and magnetic resonance imaging.