Krypton is a stable noble gas. It has an atomic number of 36. The name krypton comes from the Greek word kryptos meaning hidden. It is used in fluorescent lamps, flashbulbs, and as a wavelength standard. The metre used to be defined as 1,650,763.73 wavelengths in a vacuum of krypton gas.[1]
Because it is a gas, it does not react with many elements. It is clear and has no taste or smell.[2] The atmosphere is only about one millionth part krypton.[2] Krypton has very few compounds.
Krypton was found by Sir William Ramsay and Morris Travers in Great Britain in 1898.[3] Ramsay was given the 1904 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on noble gases.[4] It was a difficult gas to discover; Ramsay suspected it existed but only found it by removing other gases.[5] This is why he gave it the name Krypton.[5] There is no mineral called Kryptonite or planet called Krypton, which both feature in the Superman comics by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.[5] The fictional planet is probably better known than the real chemical element called Krypton.[5]
H | He | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Li | Be | B | C | N | O | F | Ne | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Na | Mg | Al | Si | P | S | Cl | Ar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
K | Ca | Sc | Ti | V | Cr | Mn | Fe | Co | Ni | Cu | Zn | Ga | Ge | As | Se | Br | Kr | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rb | Sr | Y | Zr | Nb | Mo | Tc | Ru | Rh | Pd | Ag | Cd | In | Sn | Sb | Te | I | Xe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cs | Ba | La | Ce | Pr | Nd | Pm | Sm | Eu | Gd | Tb | Dy | Ho | Er | Tm | Yb | Lu | Hf | Ta | W | Re | Os | Ir | Pt | Au | Hg | Tl | Pb | Bi | Po | At | Rn | ||||||||||
Fr | Ra | Ac | Th | Pa | U | Np | Pu | Am | Cm | Bk | Cf | Es | Fm | Md | No | Lr | Rf | Db | Sg | Bh | Hs | Mt | Ds | Rg | Cn | Nh | Fl | Mc | Lv | Ts | Og | ||||||||||
|