The Alpha Particle : Part 1 : Helium

<p><strong>The Field Guide to Particle Physics <br></strong><a href="https://pasayten.org/the-field-guide-to-particle-physics">https://pasayten.org/the-field-guide-to-particle-physics</a><br>©2021 The Pasayten Institute <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">cc by-sa-4.0</a><br>The definitive resource for all data in particle physics is the Particle Data Group: <a href="https://pdg.lbl.gov/">https://pdg.lbl.gov</a>.</p><p>The Pasayten Institute is on a mission to build and share physics knowledge, without barriers! <a href="http://pasayten.org/heysean">Get in touch</a>.</p><p>Isotopes of Helium:<br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotopes_of_helium">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotopes_of_helium</a></p><p>Helium Fact Sheet from NIST:<br><a href="https://webbook.nist.gov/cgi/inchi/InChI%3D1S/He">https://webbook.nist.gov/cgi/inchi/InChI%3D1S/He</a></p><p><br><strong>The Alpha Particle<br>Part 1 - Helium<br></strong><br>The story of Helium - and why it’s in short supply - is layered and worth telling in its own right. It brings together ideas in chemistry, technology, radioactivity, welding, rocket engineering, ship-building, geophysics and quantum mechanics.</p><p>Helium is a major play in the story of ALPHA. By the end of this miniseries, you’ll be able to answer these questions:</p><p> * Where does Helium come from? <br> *  How does Quantum Mechanics lead to the formation of Helium? <br> *  What is the relationship between Helium and Radioactivity? <br> * What exactly does Helium have to do with plate tectonics and the Aurora?</p><p> Put differently, these questions are literally asking “WHAT ON EARTH DOES HELIUM HAVE TO DO WITH PARTICLE PHYSICS?!”</p><p>Before we get to all that. I have a personal question for you. Do you remember your first experience with helium?</p><p><strong>Helium Balloons<br></strong><br>When I was a small child, I remember being seriously confused by balloons. On TV and at the grocery store, they were all floating!  Tied down with ribbons. And yet, all