Argon was discovered by William Ramsay, an English chemist, in 1894. The name Argon originates from the Greek word ‘Argos’ meaning inactive. Argons symbol is Ar and it’s located in period 3, group 18 of the periodic table. It’s a noble gas. It has 18 electrons and protons, and 22 neutrons. Argons electron configuration is 1s22s22p63s23p6. Argon is a colorless, odorless gas present in the atmosphere. It’s known to not form true chemical compounds. It’s heavier than air, but less reactive than N2. Argons atomic number is 18, its mass number is 39.948, it has 8 valence electrons, it’s molar mass is 39.95, it’s ionization energy is very high, but still less than neon, it’s melting point is -189.3 c, and it’s boiling point is -186.0 c. Argons density is 0.00178 grams per cubic centimeter. Argons is a gas at room temperature. The electrical conductivity of Argon is very low, and the flammability is zero, you cannot burn Argon, it can’t burn because it is inert and it won’t react with Oxygen to create what is known as fire. It can be heated and used to weld, but even then it’s not necessarily burning. Argon doesn’t react with any other element because it’s a noble gas, so there is no reactivity from Argon with water or Oxygen. There are several common uses for the element Argon such as the following. Argon is used in fluorescent tubes and usually emits a blue light. It extinguishes fires without damaging the equipment that is burning, it’s used in museums to protect old documents and materials, it’s used to inflate scuba diving dry suits, it keeps open bottles of wine from turning into vinegar during the aging process, and it’s used for thermal insulation on windows because of its low thermal conductivity. Argon lasers are also used to weld arteries, destroy tumors and correct eye defects in surgery. It’s used in black lights, and UV lamps since the excitation of the element produces large amounts of ultraviolent radiation. Argon is found in the air in earth’s atmosphere. It’s not found in any compounds, because it’s isolated into the air through liquid air fractionation. The atmosphere only contains 0.94% Argon. It was the first noble gas to be discovered. Ramsay discovered it because he was removing Oxygen and Nitrogen from the air from a quanitiy of liquid air through fractional distillation, and he found that there was a small remainder of gas left. He put the remaining gas into a glass tube and excited it with electricity. When he studied the unknown gas through a spectroscope, he discovered a new pattern of lines, but there was no place left in the Periodic Table for this new gaseous element. In 1894 he had the idea for a new column of elements, the Noble Gases, and the thought this was the first element member. He named it Argon because the Greek word ‘Argos’ meant lazy, and he thought it was a lazy element because it seemed to have no chemical properties. It exists freely in nature, and naturally occurs in three isotopes.
Works Cited Page http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele018.html http://www.webelements.com/argon/ http://www.carondelet.pvt.k12.ca.us/Family/Science/Noble%20Gasses/Argon.htm http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/ar.htm
http://www.chemicool.com/elements/argon.html