Why did the airship switch to helium as a filling gas?

In 1852, the Frenchman Jean-Peté succeeded in building the world's first manned airship. The airship is 44 meters long and 12 meters in diameter, and a 3-horsepower steam engine drives the propellers and proppels the hydrogen-filled airbags through the wind. The airship is shaped like a giant olive, with a pointed head and tail, mainly to reduce the drag of the air, facilitate changing direction and increase speed in the air.

Since then, many airships have been built, making a significant contribution to early international air transportation. In particular, the use of airships for the first time to open the Arctic route in harsh climates has made airships famous as a long-distance means of transportation. In the war, the airship is also an effective air **, because of the low cost, low noise, fuel saving, stability, until today, airships are also used in air transportation, geological exploration and forest protection.

In the past, the airship's air tank contained hydrogen, but hydrogen easily caught fire and there was a risk of fire. So later they all used helium instead, which was much safer. Although helium is heavier than hydrogen, it is still much lighter than air, so it is still subject to a lot of buoyancy.

However, due to its own limitations, airships could not fundamentally meet the needs of the development of the aviation industry, so more advanced aircraft came into being. <>

One day in May 1937, the famous German airship "Hindenburg" was about to land when it suddenly "boomed" and more than 30 people were killed on the spot. According to investigations, the fire was caused by the ignition of hydrogen gas leaked by static electricity in the atmosphere. Because at that time, the "belly" of the airship - the air storage bag was filled with hydrogen, which is a combustible gas, which will catch fire when it encounters a little spark.

After this major accident, airships gradually faded out of the world air transport stage.

Compared with airplanes, airships have a large load capacity, a long stay in the air, and can take off and land anywhere, which is very convenient to use. Therefore, with the development of modern science and technology, various new airships have returned to the blue sky. They no longer use hydrogen for buoyancy, but instead use helium.

Although helium is heavier than hydrogen, it is still much lighter than air, and it does not react easily with anyone, so of course it will never catch fire. It's no wonder that all airships now run on helium.

Originally, the airship was filled with hydrogen, but the lessons of the Gordon Treasure led to the worldwide use of hydrogen as a filling gas instead of nitrogen, which should not burn under normal conditions (i.e., redox reactions).

Secondly, nitrogen is slightly lighter than air, its molecular structure is very stable, 2 nitrogen atoms share 3 pairs of electron pairs (non-polar covalent bonds), called 3 bonds, while the general non-monoatomic gas only has 2 bonds or 1 bond, so it is not stable enough.

Note: The formula amount of nitrogen is 28 and the average amount of air is 29, so nitrogen will not be significantly buoyant (for example, the snacks in the supermarket are filled with nitrogen, do you go to the supermarket and see food packaging bags flying all over the sky?). ）

So helium is generally used as the filling gas for airships, because it is a noble gas.

Also: don't listen to other people's nonsense, nitrogen is not a noble gas at all, it should be 3 bonds so stable, noble gas must be the outermost atom with an electron of 8 for example

Helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, radon, etc.

The reason why helium is used in airships is because airships are filled with lighter-than-air gases in airbags to produce static buoyancy, which are lighter-than-air gases that can be called floating gases.

There are three main requirements for the floating gas suitable for airships: first, it must be light; Second, it is necessary to be safe; Third, the price is cheap. Historically, many airships have used hydrogen as a floating gas, such as the German "Zeppelin" and "Hindenburg" large hard airships around the thirties used hydrogen.

However, due to the fact that hydrogen is flammable and explosive, it is very unsafe, and modern airships mostly use helium instead of hydrogen as the main floating gas.

Related explanations

The hull of the boat is filled with buoyancy gas (including hydrogen or helium) that is less dense than air to create buoyancy to lift the airship into the air. The pods are used for personnel to ride and load cargo. The tail surface is used to control and maintain the stability of course and pitch.

Large civilian airships can also be used for transportation, transportation, entertainment, disaster relief, film and television shooting, scientific experiments and so on. For example, in the event of a natural disaster, a float can be quickly launched if the communication is interrupted, and the mobile communication restoration of the entire disaster area can be completed in a very short time by carrying a communication ** device through the floating balloon.

The filling gas used for the airship should be buoyant, technically speaking, the density should be less than 29. In fact, the gas with the least density is hydrogen, but hydrogen is unstable, flammable and explosive, but the second gas next to hydrogen is helium. Helium density The density of hydrogen is.

Helium is not flammable, safer and more suitable for us to make the filling gas of the airship.

There is also a more important point here, helium is an inert gas that can be used for heating, and the heated helium is less dense and more buoyant.

If you want to make an airship, when designing a helium balloon, in addition to using a liquid helium tank, after filling the helium balloon, you also need a heating device, and the buoyancy of the heated helium can be greatly improved.

Question Answers: B Question Analysis: Analysis:

The chemical properties of a substance refer to the properties that are manifested in chemical changes, and the physical properties of a substance refer to the properties that do not need to be manifested through chemical changes, and are analyzed and judged accordingly Answer: a. Hydrogen can be used as a high-energy fuel, which uses the flammability of hydrogen and needs to be manifested through chemical changes, and its chemical properties are used, so the option is wrong b. Helium can be filled with airships, which takes advantage of the small density of helium, and can be manifested without chemical changes, and uses its physical properties. Therefore, the option is correct c, carbon dioxide is used to extinguish fires, it is to use the properties of carbon dioxide that cannot be burned, cannot support combustion, and is denser than air, which not only uses its physical properties, but also uses chemical properties, so the option is wrong D, oxygen can supply breathing, and it needs to be manifested through chemical changes, and its chemical properties are used, so the option is wrong Therefore, choose b Comments: This question is not very difficult, and it is not difficult to distinguish whether the use of substances uses physical properties or chemical properties. The key is to see if the nature of the use needs to be reflected through chemical changes

Generally filled with helium. 1.Airbag: It is filled with helium to provide lift, and there are also auxiliary airbags inside. Modern airships.

The upper airbag is made of polyester.

2.Auxiliary Airbag: A small, auxiliary airbag inside the airship that controls and maintains balance by inflating and deflating in flight.

3.Pod: A cabin located below an airship, including the cockpit, engines, and personnel compartment (if manned);

4.Propulsion unit: provides power for the take-off, landing and air hovering of the airship;

5.Tail, rudder and elevator: provide maneuverability for airships.

The role of oxygen is to supply breathing and support combustion; Helium is chemically inactive and has a small density, which can fill manned airships; Carbon dioxide can be used for photosynthesis in plants; The nitrogen content in the air is 78%, which is the most abundant gas in the air So the answer is: O2, He, CO2, N2

Both hydrogen and helium are lighter than air and can be used as filling gases for airships.

But hydrogen is easy**; And helium is a depraved gas and will not **. Therefore, the airship should be switched to helium as the filling gas.

a. The density of hydrogen is smaller than that of air, which can make the airship fly noisy, but hydrogen is flammable and easy to cause** From a safety point of view, hydrogen cannot be used, so it is wrong;

b. The density of oxygen is greater than that of air, and the chemical properties are lively, so it is not suitable for filling the airship, so it is wrong;

c. The density of helium is less than that of air, which can make the airship take off, and helium is an inert gas, which generally does not react with other substances, so it is very safe and can be used for airships Therefore, it is correct;

d. The density of carbon dioxide is higher than that of air, and it is not suitable for filling the airship, so it is wrong;

Therefore, C

a. Nitrogen is used as protective gas, which uses the chemical properties of nitrogen.

Stability, such as Sun quality, needs to be manifested through chemical changes, and it is the use of its chemical properties, so the choice is wrong

b. Helium can be filled with airships.

It is the use of the small density of helium, which can be expressed without chemical changes, and the physical properties of helium, so the choice is correct

c. Carbon dioxide.

It is used for fire extinguishing because carbon dioxide cannot be burned, cannot support combustion, and has a greater density than air, which not only uses its physical properties, but also uses the chemical properties of rubber brothers, so the choice is wrong

d. Oxygen can be supplied with breathing, but it needs to be manifested through chemical changes, which is the use of its chemical properties, so the choice is wrong

Therefore, choose B