Inert gases are chemically inactive and will not react with many things. Inert gases are utilized for a variety of applications throughout sectors, including welding, chemical processing, and filler gases in light sources. They are: helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon.
In the solar spectrum, helium is visible as a brilliant yellow line at 587.49 nanometers. It first discovered in 1868. Pierre Jansen made this discovery. At first, Jansen thought it was a salt line. But later studies by Sir William Ramsay (who used acids to extract helium from several rare elements on Earth) verified that the bright yellow line from his experiment matched the solar spectrum. William Crookes, a British physicist, determined the element to be helium based on this.
Morris W. Travers and sir William Ramsay made the discoveries of the noble gases neon, krypton, and xenon in 1898. By lowering a sample of air to liquid phase, heating the liquid phase, heating the liquid, and catching the gasses as they boiled out, Ramsay was able to discover neon. This method also led to the discovery of xenon and krypton. The last gas in Group 18, radon, was discovered by Friedrich Earns Dorn in 1900 while studying the decay chain of radium. During his experiments, Dorn noticed that radium compounds emanated radioactive gas, which was initially named niton after the Latin word for shining, "nitens." The element was subsequently renamed as radon by the International Committee for Chemical Elements and International Union of Pure Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) in 1923.
Applications of Inert Gases:
Helium:
Helium is frequently used as a component of breathing gasses because of its limited solubility in fluids or lipids. This is significant because other gases are absorbed by the blood and body tissues while under pressure during scuba diving. Because of its low solubility, little helium enters cell membranes; when it substitutes a portion of the breathing mixture, helium reduces the narcotic impact of the gas at great depths. The reduced amount of dissolved gas in the body causes fewer gas bubbles to develop, lowering the ascending pressure. Helium and Argon are used to protect welding sparks and base metal from the atmosphere. Helium is mostly used in very low temperature cryogenics to maintain superconductors, which are useful in creating strong magnetic fields, at very low temperatures. Furthermore, helium is the most often utilized carrier gas in gas chromatography.
Neon:
Neon finds widely recognizable uses in luminous warning signs, TV cine-scopes, neon lights, fog lights, lasers, voltage detectors, and advertising signs. Neon tubing, used in extravagant decorations and advertising, is the most common usage of neon. Neon, helium, or argon are pumped into these tubes at low pressure, and they are then exposed to electrical discharges. The composition of the gaseous mixture and the color of the tube's glass determine the color of the light that is released. In a colorless tube, pure neon reflects blue light and absorbs red light. Fluorescent light is the name given to this reflected light.
Argon:
Argon has numerous applications in electronics, lighting, glass, and metal manufacturing. Argon is used in electronics as a heat transfer medium for ultra-pure silicon crystal semiconductors and to develop germanium. Argon may also fill fluorescent and incandescent light bulbs, producing the blue light seen in "neon lamps." Window makers use argon's low thermal conductivity to create a gas barrier for double-pane insulated windows. This insulation barrier increases the windows' energy efficiency. Argon also forms an inert gas barrier during welding, flushes melted metals to eliminate porosity in casting, and provides an oxygen and nitrogen-free environment for annealing and rolling metals and alloys.
Krypton:
As argon, krypton can be found in energy-efficient windows. Because of its higher thermal efficiency, krypton is sometimes used over argon for insulation. It is believed that 30% of energy-efficient windows marketed in Germany and England include krypton, with these countries using around 1.8 liters. Krypton can be found in fuel sources, lasers, and lamps. In lasers, krypton is used to control the desired optical wavelength. Excimer lasers are often created by combining it with a halogen (commonly fluorine). Halogen sealed beam headlights with krypton can deliver up to twice the light output of normal headlights. Krypton is also utilized in high performance light bulbs, which offer better color temperatures and efficiency because it slows filament evaporation.
Xenon:
Xenon is used in a variety of applications, including incandescent lighting, x-ray development, and plasma display panels. Incandescent lighting uses xenon because it requires less energy to produce the same amount of light as a standard incandescent bulb. Xenon has also improved x-ray quality while emitting less radiation. When combined with oxygen, it can improve contrast in CT images. These applications have had a significant impact on the healthcare industry. Plasma display panels (PDPs) with xenon as one of the fill gases may eventually replace big image tubes in television and computer screens.
Nuclear fission products may include numerous radioactive isotopes of xenon that absorb neutrons in nuclear reactor cores. Nuclear reactor control involves the generation and removal of radioactive xenon decay products.
Radon:
After cigarette smoking, radon is said to be the second most common cause of lung cancer. Nevertheless, it is also useful for bathing, treating arthritis, and radiation therapy. Radon has been utilized in radiation to treat cancer mostly using implantable seeds consisting of gold or glass. It's been suggested that radon exposure lessens the effects of autoimmune conditions like arthritis. In an attempt to reduce their discomfort, some arthritics have sought out brief exposure to radon and radioactive mine water. "Radon Spas" like Bad Gastern in Austria and Onsen in Japan provide a treatment where patients spend minutes to hours in a high-radon environment in the hopes that mild radiation may increase their vitality.