MRI machines need thousands of liters of liquid helium to function. Health care workers say they can’t afford any disruptions to the helium supply chain.
Well, they’re not really wrong, there’s are only two elements that make any sense to use here, helium and hydrogen.
The thing is, the job they want these elements for is as a coolant. The best state of matter for a coolant is definitely liquid, a liquid flows much better and makes better contact for thermal transfer than a solid, and it’s much more dense than a gas (so it can pull more heat away).
But, at these very low temperatures, the only elements that won’t freeze into a solid are helium and hydrogen. That said, hydrogen would make an even more efficient coolant than helium, so they’re wrong that helium is the only elements that works. Hydrogen is pretty impractical though, it’s hard to contain, it reacts with everything, it’s more expensive.
Well, they’re not really wrong, there’s are only two elements that make any sense to use here, helium and hydrogen.
The thing is, the job they want these elements for is as a coolant. The best state of matter for a coolant is definitely liquid, a liquid flows much better and makes better contact for thermal transfer than a solid, and it’s much more dense than a gas (so it can pull more heat away).
But, at these very low temperatures, the only elements that won’t freeze into a solid are helium and hydrogen. That said, hydrogen would make an even more efficient coolant than helium, so they’re wrong that helium is the only elements that works. Hydrogen is pretty impractical though, it’s hard to contain, it reacts with everything, it’s more expensive.