How do you separate helium and argon to get helium?

Answer 1

To get helium you can use fractional distillation of liquid air.

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If you just wanted to separate helium from a MIXTURE of helium and argon you could use diffusion. Since helium is lighter than air while argon is heaver than air. You can capture the helium as it "diffuses" away from argon.

Answer 2

Helium and argon can be separated by fractional distillation, as they have different boiling points (-269°C for helium and -186°C for argon). By cooling the mixture to around -269°C, most of the helium will liquefy while the argon remains in the gas phase. This allows for the separation and collection of the helium.

Answer 3

The solubility of argon in water is very low: 0,0537 V/V. By heating argon is easily released and water vapours are fast condensed.

Answer 4

One posibility is to reduce the temperature of the mix to -225oC. The argon will freeze into a solid at approximately -190o while the helium will remain gaseous until -272o.