GROUP VIIIA

NOBLE GASES
ChE 1101

Rivano, Gemlene

Tan, Nicole Elizabeth

Valdez, Danica Elaine Audrey

Villanueva, Justine

ChE 1102

Opiña, John Marlou

Panopio, Katrina Marie C.

Payabyab, Wingel Ingrid D.

Piñon, Ramuelle Jade P.

Plaza, Kyla Marie T.

Robiso, Seth

Sandoval, Joyce Anne P.

Silang, Jeoh Ysrael D.

Tan, Roy Vincent

Torres, Cee-jay

Vidal, Joachim Denzel

Villano, Vincent Martin Lee

ChE 1103

Recio, Celine Joy

Rosales, Twinkle Anne Gonzales

Robles, Rizzah Mae

Portgal, Carl Joshua

Helium (He)
Discovery date: 1895
Discovered by: Sir William Ramsay in London; Per Teodor Cleve and Nils
Abraham Langlet in Uppsala, Swede
Origin of the name: The name is derived from the Greek, 'helios',
meaning sun. 

DESCRIPTION
Helium (He), chemical element, inert gas of Group 18 (noble gases) of the periodic table.
The second lightest element (only hydrogen is lighter), helium is a colorless, odorless, and
tasteless gas that becomes liquid at −268.9 °C (−452 °F). The boiling and freezing points of
helium are lower than those of any other known substance. Helium is the only element that
cannot be solidified by sufficient cooling at normal atmospheric pressure; it is necessary to apply
pressure of 25 atmospheres at a temperature of 1 K (−272 °C, or −458 °F) to convert it to its
solid form.

OCCURRENCE
Although helium is relatively scarce on earth, it is the second most abundant element in
the universe. Around 11.3% of atoms in the universe are helium atoms. Traces of helium are
present in the atmosphere, and the air we breathe constitutes about 0.000524% of helium.
However, it is hard to evaluate the quantity of helium present in the Earth's crust as the gas
quickly escapes into the air.

USES MANUFACTURE/PRODUCTION
 Diving gas mixtures Helium can be obtained by heating
 Filling balloons and other light aircrafts monazite sands at 1000°C (1832°F). It can
 Refrigerant for superconductors also be produced by liquefaction of natural
 Semiconductor manufacture and welding gas deep under the Earth's crust. The gas is
purposes mostly recovered from the natural gas
 Cooling MRI scanners deposits of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas for
 Pressure and purge systems commercial use.
 Leak-detection systems

KEY PROPERTIES

 It is an odorless, colorless, tasteless inert gas

 It has the lowest melting point of all elements
 It has a boiling point close to 0K
 It does not solidify at 0K under normal pressures, but remains
a liquid due to superfluidity
 It does not react with any element as it is chemically inert.
Neon (Ne)
Discovery date: 1898
Discovered by: Morris Travers and William Ramsay
Origin of the name: The scientists named the gas neon, which means
"new" in Latin.

DESCRIPTION
Neon (Ne) is a colorless, tasteless, and odorless inert gas. It changes to reddish-orange
color in vacuum tube. It is chemically inactive. It has the lowest liquid range of any element.
Neon is the second-lightest noble gas. It is a less expensive refrigerant than helium in most
applications.

OCCURRENCE

Although neon is the fourth most abundant element in the universe, only 0.0018% in
volume of the earth's atmosphere is neon. Neon is usually found in the form of a gas with
molecules consisting of a single Neon atom. Neon is a rare gas that is found in the Earth's
atmosphere at 1 part in 65,000.

USES

 It is used for manufacturing high-voltage indicators, television tubes, wave meter tubes
and lightning arrestors
 The reddish-orange color emitted from the neon lights are used for advertising purposes.
(The largest use of neon is in making the ubiquitous ‘neon signs’ for advertising)
 It is commercially used as cryogenic refrigerant
 It is combined with helium to produce helium-neon lasers.

MANUFACTURE/ PRODUCTION

Neon can be produced as a by-product from the liquefaction of air and by separation from
other elements using fractional distillation.
Argon (Ar)

Discovery date: 1894

Discovered by: Lord Rayleigh and Sir William Ramsay 
Origin of the name: The name is derived from the Greek, 'argos', meaning
idle. 

DESCRIPTION

Argon (Ar) is a colorless, odorless gas that is totally inert to other substances. It is
chemically inactive and hence it tends to form weak structures at extreme conditions. It exists as
charged ion molecules.
Argon is the third noble gas, in period 8, and it makes up about 1% of the Earth's
atmosphere. Argon has approximately the same solubility as oxygen and it is 2.5 times as soluble
in water as nitrogen. It is not found in any compounds.

OCCURRENCE

Argon makes up 0.94% of the Earth’s atmosphere and is the third most abundant
atmospheric gas. Levels have gradually increased since the Earth was formed because
radioactive potassium-40 turns into argon as it decays. Argon is obtained commercially by the
distillation of liquid air.

USES
 It is particularly important for the metal industry
 Welding purposes
 Electric lamps as filler gas
 Discharge tubes
 Argon lasers and argon-dye lasers

MANUFECTURE/ PRODUCTION

Argon is industrially extracted from liquid air in a cryogenic air separation unit by means
of fractional distillation. When nitrogen gas present in the atmosphere is heated using hot
calcium or magnesium, a nitride is formed leaving behind small amount of argon as an impurity.
It can also be obtained as a by-product while purifying natural gas.
Krypton (Kr)

Discovery date: 1898

Discovered by: Sir William Ramsay and Morris Travers
Origin of the name: The name is derived from the Greek, 'kryptos',
meaning hidden. 

DESCRIPTION

Under normal conditions Krypton (Kr) is colorless, odorless, fairly expensive gas. Solid
krypton is a white crystalline substance with a face-centered cubic structure which is common to
all the "rare gases". The element Krypton is characterized by emission of sharp spectral lines, out
of which the green and yellow lines are the strongest and most prominent. It behaves as Neon at
very high temperatures but glows purple instead of red. Krypton discharges a greenish yellow
glow when it is mixed with other gases.

OCCURRENCE

Traces of krypton of around 1 ppm are present in the atmosphere. Very small amount of
krypton can also be formed in the Earth’s crust when uranium or other radioactive elements
disintegrate. Krypton is not very abundant in our planet’s atmosphere: For every krypton atom,
there are about 8200 argon atoms, 184 000 oxygen molecules and 685 000 nitrogen molecules.

USES
 Filling gas for energy-saving fluorescent lights
 High speed photography
 Slide and movie projectors

MANUFACTURE/ PRODUCTION

Although traces of krypton are found in various minerals, the most important source of
krypton is Earth's atmosphere. Krypton can also be obtained from the fission of uranium, which
occurs in nuclear power plants. Unlike air, which contains only the stable isotopes of krypton,
this process produces both stable isotopes and radioactive isotopes of krypton.
Xenon (Xe)

Discovery date: 1898

Discovered by: Sir William Ramsay and Morris Travers
Origin of the name: The name is derived from the Greek, 'xenos',
meaning stranger.

DESCRIPTION
Xenon (Xe), chemical element, a heavy and extremely rare gas of Group 18 (noble gases)
of the periodic table. It was the first noble gas found to form true chemical compounds. More
than 4.5 times heavier than air, xenon is colourless, odourless, and tasteless. Solid xenon belongs
to the face-centred cubic crystal system, which implies that its molecules, which consist of single
atoms, behave as spheres packed together as closely as possible. The name xenon is derived from
the Greek word xenos, “strange” or “foreign.”

OCCURRENCE
Xenon does not occur in the earth’s crust, but the earth’s atmosphere contains about 0.1
part per million of xenon. Recent analysis indicates that the same amount of xenon is also
present in the atmosphere of Mars.

USES

 The white flash of light produced by xenon makes it suitable for usage in strobe lights
and to power ruby lasers and kill bacteria
 It is used in stroboscopic lamps, high-intensitive arc-lamps, photographic flash lamps and
high-pressure arc lamps to product ultraviolet light.
 It illuminates road signs and marking clearly in comparison with the conventional lights.

MANUFACTURE/PRODUCTION

Xenon is produced from the residues of liquefied air via fractional distillation, as it was
produced when first discovered.
Radon (Rn)

Discovery date: 1900

Discovered by: Friedrich Ernst Dorn
Origin of the name: The name is derived from the radium, as it was first
detected as an emission from radium during radioactive decay.

DESCRIPTION
Radon (Rn) is a gaseous highly radioactive element discovered by English physicist
Ernest Rutherford in 1899. The discovery is also credited to German physicist Friedrich Ernst
Dorn in 1900. Radon is a colorless chemically-unreactive inert gas. It is also fairly soluble in
water and organic solvents. Although reaction with other compounds is comparatively rare, it is
not completely inert and forms stable molecules with highly electronegative materials. Radon is
considered a noble gas that occurs in several isotopic forms. Only two are found in significant
concentrations in the human environment: radon-222, and radon-220. Radon-222 is a member of
the radioactive decay chain of uranium-238. Radon-220 is formed in the decay chain of thorium-
232.

OCCURRENCE

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas, which is produced by the radioactive

decay of radium which, in turn, is derived from the radioactive decay of uranium. Uranium is
found in small quantities in all soils and rocks, although the amount varies from place to place.
Radon released from rocks and soils is quickly diluted in the atmosphere. Concentrations in the
open air are normally very low and do not present a hazard.

USES

Radon has been used in some spas for presumed medical effects. In addition, radon is
used to initiate and influence chemical reactions and as a surface label in the study of surface
reactions. It has been obtained by pumping the gasses off of a solution of a radium salt, sparking
the gas mixture to combine the hydrogen and oxygen, removing the water and carbon dioxide by
adsorption, and freezing out the radon.

MANUFACTURE/PRODUCTION
Radon is not produced as a commercial product. Radon is a naturally occurring
radioactive gas and comes from the natural breakdown (radiItsoactive decay) of uranium. It is
usually found in igneous rock and soil, but in some cases, well water may also be a source of
radon.
Oganesson (Og)

Discovery date: 2006

Discovered by: Scientist from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
in Dubna, Russia, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in
California, USA
Origin of the name: The name recognizes the Russian nuclear physicist Yuri Oganessian for his
contributions to transactinide element research.

DESCRIPTION

Oganesson (Og) is a radioactive, artificially produced element about which little is

known. It is expected to be a gas and is classified as a non-metal. It is a member of the noble gas
group.
The element, No. 118 on the Periodic Table of Elements, had previously been designated
ununoctium, a placeholder name that means one-one-eight in Latin. In November 2016, the
International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) approved the name oganesson for
element 118.
The name oganesson honors Yuri Oganessian "for his pioneering contributions to
transactinide elements research," IUPAC officials said, referring to elements with atomic
numbers 104 through 120. "
Its most stable isotope is 294Og, with a half-life of about 0.9 milliseconds, and it
undergoes radioactive disintegration through α decay to form 290Lv (livermorium-290).
Oganesson has the highest atomic number and highest atomic mass of all known
elements. The radioactive oganesson atom is very unstable, and since 2005, only five (possibly
six) atoms of the nuclide 294Og have been detected.

OCCURRENCE

Oganesson is not known to occur in nature and is artificially produced in laboratories.

USES
Oganesson is not a naturally occurring element and has only been synthesized in small
quantities, making it useful only for basic scientific research. Since only a few atoms of
oganesson have ever been made, it has no practical uses outside of scientific study.

MANUFACTURE/PRODUCTION
The Russian scientists who produced oganesson bombarded atoms of californium with
ions of calcium for 1,080 hours. This resulted in three atoms of oganesson.
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http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/18/argon
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"Occurrence And Risks Of Radon". Bristish Geological Survey, 2018.
http://www.bgs.ac.uk/radon/occurrence_and_risks.html.

"Oganesson". Wikipedia, 2018. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oganesson.

"Oganesson Facts, Symbol, Discovery, Properties, Uses". Chemistry Learner, 2018.

http://www.chemistrylearner.com/oganesson.html.

"Radon Fact Sheet: What It Is, How It Affects Us, Why It Matters". Radon.Com, 2018.
https://www.radon.com/radon_facts/.

Sharp, Tim. "Facts About Oganesson (Element 118)". Live Science, 2018.

https://www.livescience.com/41460-facts-about-ununoctium.html.

Thomas, G. (2013, December 12). Argon (Ar) - Discovery, Occurrence, Production,

Properties and Applications of Argon. Retrieved from
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"Water Treatment Solutions." Lenntech Water Treatment & Purification. Accessed

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https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=7923
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http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/36/krypton
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http://www.madehow.com/Volume-4/Krypton
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