| MadSci Network: Physics |
The answer is very simnple. It will stay as a gas. Helium is probably the most difficult gas to compress to a liquid. To liquify helium requires tremendous amounts of pressure and extremely cold temperatures. (Close to absolute zero). As you probably know already, at absolute zero objects obtain a state of minimum energy. At that point all gases will finally solidify. For a typical gas, as pressure increases, there will be a point, called the condensation point, when the gas will turn to a liquid and fall out. This occurs at different temperatures and pressures for all gases. If you keep compressing the liquified gases, they will eventually solidify, but in the real world solidification is very difficult for some gases, such as helium, mentioned above. The gas carbon dioxide does not go through a liquification point under normal conditions. You have heard of dry ice? That is frozen carbon dioxide. If left to warm up, it will not go through a liquid state. It takes special conditions to get liquid carbon dioxide. I hope this answers your question. Carlin Gregory
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