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What
the name means: The word Argon comes
from the Greek a-ergon (ārgon),
meaning no work or inactive.
Who identified
argon? Argon was identified by John
William Strutt (Lord Rayleigh) and William
Ramsay in 1894. They presented their
findings to the British Association for the
Advancement of Science and it was the
chairman at that time who suggested the
name Argon because the gas was inert. Argon
was the first of the noble gases to be
identified. It caused a problem for the
scientists because it did not seem to fit
into the periodic table. Eventually it was
realised that another column needed to be
added to the right of the existing table to
accommodate this new gas. It was then
obvious that there must be other gases that
would complete the group and Ramsay
continued his research to identify them.
Both Strutt and Ramsay were awarded Nobel
Prizes in 1904 for their work in
identifying the noble gases.
About argon:
Argon makes up just less than 1% of
the Earth’s atmosphere. It can also be
detected in small amounts in certain
minerals and meteorites. The fact that it
does not readily react with other elements
makes it very useful for filling light
bulbs, for example. The filament will glow
in argon but will not react with the gas.
All the noble gases are monatomic. |
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