Isotopes of helium a thousand times lower than helium-4 (2.17 K). This difference is explained by quantum statistics, since helium-3 atoms are fermions, while helium-4 atoms are bosons, which condense to a superfluid more easily. The most common isotope, , is produced on Earth by alpha decay of heavier radioactive elements; the alpha particles that emerge are fully ionized nuclei. is an unusually stable nucleus because its nucleons are arranged into complete shells. It was also formed in enormous quantities during Big Bang nucleosynthesis. Terrestrial helium consists almost exclusively (99.99986%) of this isotope. Its boiling point of 4.2 K is the lowest of
Boiling point boiling point of water" at a standard pressure of 100 kPa (1 bar) is . For comparison, on top of Mount Everest, at elevation, the pressure is about and the boiling point of water is . The Celsius temperature scale was defined until 1954 by two points: 0 °C being defined by the water freezing point and 100 °C being defined by the water boiling point at standard atmospheric pressure. The higher the vapor pressure of a liquid at a given temperature, the lower the normal boiling point (i.e., the boiling point at atmospheric pressure) of the liquid. The vapor