This chemical element is a noble, inert and colorless gas. It constitutes 1% of the air in the atmosphere. Its symbol on the periodic table is Ar, its atomic number is 18, and its molecular weight is 39.95 g / mol.
To obtain argon, it is necessary to carry out a fractional distillation process of the liquefied air and subsequently the residual oxygen is eliminated. As for its name, it comes from the Greek word argon, which means inactive, since it is a gas that does not react to the presence of other substances.
Argon was first isolated in the late 19th century
At the end of the 18th century, the English chemist Henry Cavendish discovered that air was made up of a tiny portion of a substance that was less reactive than nitrogen. It was a gas that could not be dissolved and this advance was the first step towards the definitive discovery of argon.
Scottish chemist Sir Williams Ramsay (1852-1916) first isolated this gas in 1894 and also isolated krypton, neon, and xenon (he received the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1904 for the discovery of these four noble gases ). In the periodic table of the elements the noble or inert gases are located in group 18. They are gases with a single atom, they are colorless and have low chemical reactivity.
Storage and security
It is stored in cylindrical steel utensils, which have an opening at the end to provide a place for the gas to escape. The amount of argon in a cylinder is variable, as it depends on the temperature , the volume of water, and the pressure.
Although it is not a toxic gas , if it is subjected to high pressure it can cause suffocation (for this reason it is necessary that it be kept in adequately ventilated areas and that the professionals who use it use the correct equipment). To prevent any accident, argon cylinders must be identified following strict safety regulations .
Main uses
This gas is used in incandescent lamps or as a substitute for neon in fluorescent lamps (some fluorescent tubes contain a mixture of mercury and argon vapor). It is used in various types of welding to avoid the oxidation process, in the manufacture of single crystals, in the production of titanium and other reactive elements or in the manufacture of semiconductor circuits in the electronics sector. At the same time, it serves for the detection of explosives and as a thermal insulator.
Finally, in chemical laboratories this gas is used to handle reagents.