Uses of the noble gases

Although, as we shall now see, some noble gases do form chemical compounds, these are of no commercial importance. The noble gases are far more useful to us because of their inertness, than through any chemical reactivity they possess. 

1 The noble gases are monatomic and occur in the atmosphere argon is by far the most plentiful. Helium occurs in natural gas through the accumulation of a-particles from radioactive decay. 

4 Radon occurs only in trace amounts as Rn with a half-life of 3.8 days. 

Being a gas and an a-particle emitter, it can, when inhaled, damage cells in the unprotected tissues of the lungs, thereby causing cancer. 

Still greater efficiency is achieved by replacing argon with krypton the more massive and therefore slower-moving krypton molecules conduct heat away from the filament less well, so less electrical energy is needed to maintain the operating temperature. 

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Helium is produced in the United States from some natural gas fields. This source was discovered in 1905 by H. R Cady and D. F. McFarland at the University of Kansas, when they were asked to analyze a nonflammable component of natural gas from a Kansas gas well. Uses of the noble gases are summarized in Table 24-2. 

List some of the uses of the noble gases and reasons for the uses. 

Atmospheric Abundances, Sources, and Uses of the Noble Gases... 

The dominant internal event accident scenarios were used in conjunction with conservative source terms (100% of the core melts, releasing 100% of the noble gases, 100% nf iodine and cesium, and 1% solids), and )ecific meteorological data to estimate e consequences to be well below the lOCFRlOO siting guidelines. 

Let us consider as y the boiling points of the noble gases and then use the atomic number as the predictor x. This set of data is monotonic increasing, but without a clear... 

Table 4.1 shows the solar system abundances of the elements as determined by the methods discussed above. For some elements, the photospheric abundances provide the best estimate, whereas for others, the meteorite data must be used. In some cases, the data are equally reliable and an average of the values determined from the solar photosphere and Cl chondrites is used. The abundances of the noble gases come from indirect measurements or theoretical considerations. The method for determining each abundance is indicated in the far right column of Table 4.1. 

If an aqueous solution of hydroqumone is cooled while under a pressure of several hundred kilopascals (equals several atmospheres) of a noble gas [X = Ar. Kr. Xe. a crystalline solid of approximate composition [C HjfOHLljX is obtained. These solids are 0-hydroquinone dathrates with noble gas atoms filling most of the cavities.5 Similar noble gas hydrates are known (Fig. 17 l). These clathmlcs are of some importance since they provide a stable, solid source of the noble gases. They have also been used to effect separations of the nohle gases since there is a certain selectivity exhibited by the cfctihnucs. 

Neon, one of the noble gases, is used in neon lights and signs. 

Since their discovery more than a century ago, the unique properties of the noble gases have been the subject of much research in theoretical chemistry and physics. These gases have also found many applications as tools for scientific research and many commercial, industrial, and even medical applications as well. These uses are well known, and our further discussion will focus on the role of noble gases in geochemistry. 

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