It's colorless, it's tasteless, it's odorless, it's harmless, it's Krypton, not kryptonite.

 

 

History
Krypton was found in 1898 by Scottish chemist Sir William Ramsay and English chemist Morris William Travers, in London, England. They separated it from liquid air using fractional distillation, meaning that they boiled off the almost all of it until only a little puddle was left. In that tiny amount of fluid were liquid Krypton and some other inert gases too.

Properties
Krypton is an odorless, tasteless, colorless, harmless inert gas. It was thought to be completely inert, until 1966 when Neil Bartlett found the first known compounds of Krypton, which were made with Fluorine, : Krypton tetra-fluoride(KrF4) and Krypton di-fluoride(KrF2). Since then, more compounds have been found, though most serve no purpose and are simply created to prove that they can be created. As a solid Krypton is a white crystalline substance with a cubic structure ordinary to all rare gases. Krypton produces a green and orange spectral line. Krypton is a decent conductor of thermal and electrical energy.
Facts
Krypton exists in trace amounts of the air and atmosphere. It makes up only about one-millionth of the Earth's atmosphere. It makes up roughly .000114% of air. It is found naturally in the earth's when uranium and other radioactive elements break down. The length of a meter was defined as the orange-red spectral line of Krypton-86, an isotope of Krypton, in 1960.

Family
Krypton's atomic family is the Inert or Noble Gases. The other elements of this family are Helium, Neon, Argon, Xenon and Radon. They are called inert but are not actually completely inert. Scientists have been able to make some compounds with the Noble gases. All of the gases exist in the Earth's atmosphere, but only in tiny amounts. But none of the Noble Gases were discovered until the 1800's.

Uses
When Krypton is put in a glass tube and an electric current is run through it makes a pale violet light. This is called a "neon" light, even though it may not contain Neon. The "neon" light is often used on airport run ways and as approach lights because they can be seen from over 1,000 feet away. It is typically mixed (not bonded) with other noble gases to create colored lights. Krypton is also frequently mixed and used with Xenon in high-intensity, short exposure photographic flash bulbs and strobe lights. Radioactive Krypton-85 is combined with phosphors to create "glow-in-the-dark" materials. These materials are used to check leaks in containers and study the flow of blood. Krypton is also sometimes used to make UV-lasers, which are usually used in industrial processes. About eight tons of Krypton are produced each year, worldwide. Uses of Krypton have been limited because of its high price.

Isotopes
There are six naturally occurring isotopes of Krypton, none of which are radioactive. However, all sixteen synthetic isotopes of Krypton are radioactive. Many of these radioactive isotopes are used for industrial purposes, such as the previously mentioned Krypton-85. Radioactive isotopes of Krypton are often used in cheap forms of radiation for medical reasons.

Table
Atomic number : 36 price per liter:$30
chemical symbol : Kr price per gram: $100
oxidation number : 10 amount produced in a year: eight tons worldwide
boiling point: -152.9 C or -243.2 F family : inert gases
number of isotpoes : 22 inert gases: see Family

 

 

Glossary
 

Fractional distillation-seperating the components of a mixture by gradually increasing temperature and collecting what separates.

Crystalline-similair to crystals in their formation

Spectral line-a line made due to absorbing light

Isotope-a form of an element

Inert-having little or no ablitily to react

Phosphors-a substance that emits light after being exposed to radiation

Synthetic-formed through a chemical process by a human agency.
Bibliography
 

1.Barbalace, Kenneth. "Element Krypton - Kr." Periodic table of the elements. 26 Feb. 2009. 26 Feb. 2009 <http://environmentalchemistry.com/yogi/periodic/Kr.html#Chemical>.
2.Cagon, Steve. "Questions and answers." Questions and answers. 26 Feb. 2009. 26 Feb. 2009 <http://education.jlab.org/qa/krypton.html>.
3.Cagon, Steve. "The element krypton." It's elemental. 26 Feb. 2009. 26 Feb. 2009 <http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele036.html>.
4.Heiserman, David L. Exploring CHemical Elements and their compounds. York, Pa: TAB books, 1992.
5.Multiple, People. "Krypton." Periodic table of the elements. 15 Dec. 2003. 26 Feb. 2009 <http://periodic.lanl.gov/elements/36.html>.
6.Multiple, People. "Krypton." 26 Feb. 2009. 26 Feb. 2009 <www.hobart.k12.in.us/. ../krypton.htm>.
7.Newton, David E. Chemical Elements. Farmington Hills, MI: V-X-L, 1999.
8.Stwertka, Albert. A guide to the Elements. Newyork, NY: Oxford, 2002.


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