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What
the name means:
The name radon derives from the Latin word
radius, meaning “ray”.
Who
identified radon?
In 1899, Pierre and Marie Curie observed a
gas that was given off from a solution of a
radium salt. This gas was also observed
coming from thorium and actinium salt
solutions. The gas was known by various
names – radon, thoron, actinon, to name a
few.
Frederick Saddy, who had studied radon gas
when working with Ernest Rutherford at
McGill University in Canada, brought a few
grammes of radium to Sir William Ramsay in
London. In 1908, Ramsay and Robert Gray
isolated the gas and identified it as a
noble gas. They called the gas, the
heaviest known gas, nitron. Eventually, in
1923, the name radon was universally
accepted.
About radon:
Radon gas is very radio active, decaying
into polonium and alpha particles (helium
nuclei). Like all noble gases, radon is
colourless, odourless and inert. Radon gas
is given off by uranium ore deposits and it
can accumulate in houses built above these
deposits. This occurs in specific areas of
Cornwall and Devon in the UK where the
bedrock is granite. |
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