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Argon is colorless, odorless, nonflammable and nontoxic as a solid, liquid or gas. [11] Argon is chemically inert under most conditions and forms no confirmed stable compounds at room temperature. Although argon is a noble gas, it can form some compounds under various extreme conditions.
The noble gases (helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon and radon) were previously known as 'inert gases' because of their perceived lack of participation in any chemical reactions. The reason for this is that their outermost electron shells (valence shells) are completely filled, so that they have little tendency to gain or lose electrons.
The term inert gas is context-dependent because several of the inert gases, including nitrogen and carbon dioxide, can be made to react under certain conditions. [1] [2] Purified argon gas is the most commonly used inert gas due to its high natural abundance (78.3% N 2, 1% Ar in air) [3] and low relative cost.
It is the least reactive of the noble gases; no normal compounds of neon have so far been synthesised. A small piece of rapidly melting solid argon. Argon has a density of 1.784 × 10 −3 g/cm 3, liquifies at −185.848 °C, and solidifies at −189.34 °C. Although non-toxic, it is 38% denser than air and therefore considered a dangerous ...
In many applications, the noble gases are used to provide an inert atmosphere. Argon is used in the synthesis of air-sensitive compounds that are sensitive to nitrogen. Solid argon is also used for the study of very unstable compounds, such as reactive intermediates, by trapping them in an inert matrix at very low temperatures. [91]
Cooled argon gas can form clusters of atoms. Diargon, also known as the argon dimer, has a binding energy of 0.012 eV, but the Ar 13 and Ar 19 clusters have a sublimation energy (per atom) of 0.06 eV. For liquid argon, which could be written as Ar ∞, the energy increases to 0.08 eV. Clusters of up to several hundred argon atoms have been ...
It is usually applied to gases: a monatomic gas is a gas in which atoms are not bound to each other. Examples at standard conditions of temperature and pressure include all the noble gases ( helium , neon , argon , krypton , xenon , and radon ), though all chemical elements will be monatomic in the gas phase at sufficiently high temperature (or ...
Toxic gases, by contrast, cause death by other mechanisms, such as competing with oxygen on the cellular level (e.g. carbon monoxide) or directly damaging the respiratory system (e.g. phosgene). Far smaller quantities of these are deadly. Notable examples of asphyxiant gases are methane, [1] nitrogen, argon, helium, butane and propane