What Is Krypton Used in?
Krypton is an element in the group of noble gases with an atomic number of 36 and an atomic weight of 84. On the Periodic Table of the Elements, krypton is identified by the symbol Kr. It has many industrial and medical applications, but its relatively high cost prevents its widespread use.
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Properties
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According to Argonne National Laboratory, krypton is three times heavier than air. Being a noble gas, it is inert and lacks any identifiable color, smell, or taste. It also does not engage in very many chemical reactions.
Krypton occurs naturally as six stable isotopes (krypton-84 being the most common) as well as eleven major radioactive isotopes. Krypton generally has a very short half-life and ends up decaying within two days, but radioactive isotopes krypton-81 and krypton-85 have longer half-lives of 210,000 years and 11 years, respectively.
History
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Sir William Ramsay and Morris Travers discovered the element in 1898 by evaporating liquid air and extracting the helium, nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and water. The remaining residue was analyzed to contain a new element, which became known as krypton (from the Greek word for "hidden," kryptos).
In the 1960s, krypton became a standard when the International Commission on Weights and Measures decided that the length of a meter is 1,650,763.73 wavelengths of the orange-red line as emitted by the isotope krypton-86 while in a vacuum. However, in 1983 the length of a meter was revised as the length of light in a vacuum during 1/299,792,458 of a second.
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Sources
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Traces of krypton can be found naturally in meteorites and minerals, and in the atmosphere as krypton-81 and krypton-85 due to cosmic ray neutrons. As in its discovery, one can also acquire krypton by liquefying air and evaporating everything but the krypton.
The naturally spontaneous fission of uranium results in the presence of krypton-85, but it can also be created via fission of uranium or plutonium at power plants.
Uses
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Besides its application as a standard, krypton's typical uses in medical and industrial capacities involve its ability to emit light.
In fluorescent lights, krypton can be found in tandem with argon and neon or on its own. Airports often utilize krypton lights because the light's orange-red color can be seen for long distances and through foggy conditions. Slide projectors or other similar machines have projection lamps that contain krypton.
Krypton is also used as a vital component of lasers, such as the krypton-fluorine laser. In medicine, the krypton gas laser creates a concentrated light typically used in sensitive procedures such as retina surgery. The laser is it is incredibly accurate and causes the blood to clot and prevent unnecessary bleeding and tissue damage.
The radioactive krypton-85 isotope is also used in medicine to detect abnormalities in the heart.
Warnings
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While krypton is relatively harmless as an inert noble gas, its radioactive isotopes, particularly krypton-81 and krypton-85, can prove very dangerous. This is due to the isotopes' resulting gamma rays and beta particles. The effect of the isotopes' entering the body pales in comparison to the effect of exposure to the skin, which can cause cancer and radiation poisoning.
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