Helium-4


Helium-4 is a non-radioactive and light isotope of helium. It is by far the most abundant of the two naturally-occurring isotopes of helium, making up about 99.99986% of the helium on earth. Its nucleus is a boson and an alpha particle, having two protons and two neutrons. Since the alpha decay is a common decay mode for many radioactive isotopes. In fact, alpha decay of heavy elements is the source of most naturally occurring helium-4 on earth. Helium-4 is also a byproduct of nuclear fusion in stars.