Abstract
MAY I invite the opinion of readers of NATURE as to the desirability of changing the name of element No. 2 from helium to helion? This element was christened at a time (1868) when its existence was recognised on the strength of the D3 line in the chromosphere, and when, in view of the proximity of this line to the D lines of sodium, it appeared not improbable that it was a metal. Now that helium has been isolated, liquefied, and even solidified, we know that it is typically non-metallic, exactly like argon and the other inert gases discovered in later years, and now placed in group O of the Periodic System. Its present name, therefore, is anomalous.
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FRIEND, J. Helium or Helion?. Nature 119, 199 (1927). https://doi.org/10.1038/119199d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/119199d0
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