ARGÓN

It is used as a filling gas in incandescent lamps since it does not react with the filament
material even at high temperature and pressure, thus prolonging the life of the bulb, and
replacing neon in fluorescent lamps when a green color is desired. -blue instead of neon red.
Also as a substitute for molecular nitrogen (N2) when it does not behave as an inert gas due to
operating conditions.

In the industrial and scientific field it is universally used to recreate inert (non-reactive)
atmospheres to avoid unwanted chemical reactions in many operations:

Arc welding and gas welding.

Manufacture of titanium and other reactive elements.

Manufacture of monocrystals - cylindrical pieces formed by a continuous crystalline structure -

of silicon and germanium for semiconductor components.

Argon-39 is used, among other applications, for dating ice cores and groundwater (see the
Isotopes section).

In technical diving, argon is used to inflate dry suits - those that prevent skin contact with
water, unlike typical wet wetsuits - both for being inert and for its low thermal conductivity,
which provides Thermal insulation necessary for long dives at a certain depth.

The argon laser has medical uses in dentistry and ophthalmology; The first argon laser
intervention, performed by Francis L'Esperance, to treat retinopathy was performed in
February 1968.

History

Henry Cavendish, in 1785, exposed a nitrogen sample to repeated electrical discharges in the
presence of oxygen to form nitrogen oxide, which he later removed, and found that about 1%
of the original gas could not dissolve, claiming then that not all "air phlogistics "was nitrogen.
In 1892 Lord Rayleigh discovered that atmospheric nitrogen had a higher density than pure
nitrogen obtained from nitro. Rayleigh and Sir William Ramsay demonstrated that the
difference was due to the presence of a second non-reactive gas heavier than nitrogen,
announcing the discovery of argon (from the Greek αργóν, inactive, vague or lazy) in 1894, an
announcement that was welcomed with quite skeptical by the scientific community.

In 1904 Rayleigh received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his research on the density of the most
important gases and the discovery of the existence of argon.
Abundance and obtaining

The gas is obtained by fractional distillation of liquefied air, in which it is found in a proportion
of approximately 0.94%, and subsequent removal of residual oxygen with hydrogen. The
Martian atmosphere contains 1.6% of 40Ar and 5 ppm of 36Ar .; that of Mercury 7.0% and that
of Venus traces. In August 2014, ESA's Rosetta probe, using its Rosina instrument, detected in
the coma of comet 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the isotopes 36Ar and 38Ar.

Isotopes

The main isotopes of argon present on Earth are 40Ar (99.6%), 36Ar and 38Ar. The 40K
isotope, with a half-life of 1,205 × 109 years, decays to stable 40Ar (11.2%) by electronic
capture and by emission of a positron, and the remaining 88.8% to 40Ca by means of β-decay.
These decay ratios allow the age of the rocks to be determined.5 6

In Earth's atmosphere, 39Ar is generated by cosmic ray bombardment primarily from 40Ar. In
unexposed underground environments it is produced by neutron capture of 39K and α decay
of 37Ca.6

The 37Ar, with a half-life of 35 days, is the product of the decay of 40Ca, the result of
underground nuclear explosions.6

See also

Noble gas

References

Garritz, Andoni (1998). Chemistry. Pearson Education. p. 856. ISBN 978-9-68444-318-1.

Parry, Robert W. (1973). Chemistry: experimental foundations. Reveal. p. 703. ISBN 978-8-
42917-466-3.

Hiebert, E. N. (1963). "In Noble-Gas Compounds". In Hyman, H. H., ed. Historical Remarks on
the Discovery of Argon: The First Noble Gas. University of Chicago Press. pp. 3-20.

Travers, M. W. (1928). The Discovery of the Rare Gases. Edward Arnold & Co. pp. 1-7.

Emsley, J. (2001). Nature's Building Blocks. Oxford University Press. pp. 44-45. ISBN 978-0-19-
960563-7.

Scherer, Alexandra. "40Ar / 39Ar dating and errors" (in German). Archived from the original on
May 9, 2007. Retrieved on March 7, 2007.