Krypton
Kr, 36
About Krypton
Krypton is a noble gas that is in group 18 period 4 on the Periodic table. It has an atomic weight of 83. Scroll through the gallery below for more information about Krypton like charecteristics, price, uses and where it can be found.
Discovery
The element Krypton was discovered by William Ramsay, a Scottish scientist. It was discovered in London in 1998.
William Ramsay and the noble gasses
William Ramsay was responsible for the discovery of the noble gasses, the red column in the picture above. William Ramsay and his partner Morris Travers was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1904, for their work. They received it "“in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air, and his determination of their place in the periodic system.”.
Charecteristics
Krypton is a noble gas. This means it is odorless, tasteless and colourless. It is extremely unreactive and inert. It reacts with flouride. Its is white and crystalline in it's solid form. It is non-toxic. Its melting point is -157.36C and it boiling point is -153.22 °C.
Uses
Iodised Krypton gives off a very bright white light. One way it is commonly used is to make the airport runway lights, because they are bright enough to be visibly clear from far away.
Photography
Krypton is very popular in making photography products. It is often used to make powerful flash add-ons for professional photography
Lasers
Krypton is a popular component for making powerful laboratory lasers. For example, the laser in the picture is used for cancer research and is pointing at protein so scientist can study and control them.
Signs
Another popular use for Krypton is making bright signs like the Las Vegas sign shown here. It is often used with neon to make electric signs like these.
Fluorescent Lights
Krypton is also used in making common Fluorescent light bulbs. They are used with other chemical and fluoride to give off the bright white light.
Krypton 85
Krypton 85, a isotope of the element Krypton, is one of the very few chemicals that can be used to find nuclear bombs. It can be used to detect the radiation from nuclear energy.
Abundance
Krypton is very rare on Earth. For every Krypton atom on earth, there are 685000 hydrogen atoms and 184000 oxygen atoms.
How to get it
Pure Krypton is very hard to get. The only way Chemists get Krypton is through distilling liquid air. To make air liquid they must freeze it under extremely cold temperatures. Then they use a method called fractional distillation.
Cost
Because of it's complicated distillation process, Krypton is a little expensive. It costs $33 per 100g.