Krypton

Bromine - Krypton

Ar
Kr
Xe

Full table

General

Name, Symbol, Number Krypton, Kr, 36

Chemical series Noble gases

Group, Period, Block 18 (VIIIA), 4 , p

Density, Hardness 3.708 kg/m³ (273 K), NA

Appearance colorless

Atomic Properties

Atomic weight 83.798 amu

Atomic radius (calc.) no data (88) pm

Covalent radius 110 pm

van der Waals radius 202 pm

Electron configuration [Ar]33 d¹⁰ 4s² 4p⁶

e^- 's per energy level 2, 8, 18, 8

Oxidation states (Oxide) 0 (unknown)

Crystal structure Cubic face centered

Physical Properties

State of matter gas (nonmagnetic)

Melting point 115.79 K (-251.25 �F)

Boiling point 119.93 K (-153.22 �F)

Molar volume 27.99 ×1010^-3 m³/mol

Heat of vaporization 9 .029 kJ/mol

Heat of fusion 1 .638 kJ/mol

Vapor pressure NA

Speed of sound 1120 m/s at 293.15 K

Miscellaneous

Electronegativity 3.00 (Pauling scale)

Specific heat capacity 248 J/(kg*K)

Electrical conductivity no data

Thermal conductivity 0.00949 W/(m*K)

1^st ionization potential 1350.8 kJ/mol

2^nd ionization potential 2350.4 kJ/mol

3^rd ionization potential 3565 kJ/mol

4^th ionization potential 5070 kJ/mol

5^th ionization potential 6240 kJ/mol

6^th ionization potential 7570 kJ/mol

7^th ionization potential 10710 kJ/mol

8^th ionization potential 12138 kJ/mol

Most Stable Isotopes

iso NA half-life DM DE M eV DP

⁷⁸Kr 0.35% Kr is stable with 42 neutrons

⁸⁰Kr 2.25% Kr is stable with 44 neutrons

⁸¹Kr {syn.} 229000 y Epsilon 0.281 ⁸¹Br

⁸²Kr 11.6% Kr is stable with 46 neutrons

⁸³Kr 11.5% Kr is stable with 47 neutrons

⁸⁴Kr 57% Kr is stable with 48 neutrons

⁸⁵Kr {syn.} 10.756 y Beta^- 0.687 ⁸⁵Rb

⁸⁶Kr 17.3% Kr is stable with 50 neutrons

SI units & STP are used except where noted.

Alternate meanings: Krypton (planet), KRYPTON (programming language), others

Krypton is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Kr and atomic number 36. A colorless noble gas, krypton occurs in trace amounts in the atmosphere, is isolated by fractionating liquefied air, and is often used with other rare gases in fluorescent lamps. Krypton is inert for most practical purposes but it is known to form compounds with fluorine.

Table of contents

1 Notable Characteristics
2 Applications
3 History
4 Occurrence
5 Compounds
6 Isotopes
7 External Links

Notable Characteristics

Krypton is a so-called noble gas due to its very low chemical reactivity and it is characterized by a brilliant green and orange spectral signature. It is one of the products of uranium fission. Solidified krypton is white and crystalline with a face-centered cubic crystal structure which is a common property of all "rare gases."

Applications

The international definition of the length of the meter was, from 1960 to 1983, based on the light emitted by excited krypton atoms as a standard: specifically, the meter was defined as 1,650,763.73 wavelengths of the orange-red emission line emitted by krypton-86 atoms.

Krypton clathrates have been made with hydroquinone and phenol. Kr-85 is used in chemical analysis. When it is placed in various solids kryptonates are formed and their activity is sensitive to surface chemical reactions. This noble gas is also used in photographic flash lamps needed for high-speed photography but this use is limited because of the high cost of krypton.

History

Krypton (Greek kryptos meaning "hidden") was discovered in 1898 by William Ramsay and Morris Travers in residue left from evaporating nearly all components of liquid air. In 1960 an international agreement defined the meter in terms of light emitted from a krypton isotope. This agreement replaced the longstanding standard meter located in Paris which was a metal bar made of a platinum-iridium alloy (the bar was originally estimated to be one ten millionth of a quadrant of the earth's polar circumference). In October 1983 the krypton standard was in turn replaced by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. A meter is now defined as the distance that light travels in a vacuum during 1/299,792,458 s.

Occurrence

The concentration of this gas in earth's atmosphere is about 1 ppm. It can be extracted from liquid air by fractional distillation.

Compounds

Like the other rare gases krypton is widely considered to be chemically inert. However, studies conducted since the 1960s have uncovered some compoundss of krypton. Krypton difluoride has been made in gram quantities and can be produced in several different ways. Other fluorides and a salt of a krypton called oxy acid have also been found. ArKrKr+ and KrH+ molecule-ions have been investigated and there is evidence for KrXe or KrXe+.

Isotopes

Naturally occurring krypton is composed of six stable isotopes. Krypton's spectral signature is easily produced with some very sharp lines. Kr-81 is the product of atmospheric reactions with the other naturally occurring isotopes of krypton. It is radioactive with a half-life of 250,000 years. Like xenon, krypton is highly volatile when it is near surface waters and Kr-81 has therefore been used for dating old (50,000 - 800,000 year) groundwater. Kr-85 is an inert radioactive noble gas with a half-life of 10.76 years, that is produced by fission of uranium and plutonium. Sources have included nuclear bomb testing, nuclear reactors, and the release of Kr-85 during the reprocessing of fuel rods from nuclear reactors. A strong gradient exists between the northern and southern hemispheres where concentrations at the North Pole are approximately 30% higher than the South Pole due to convective mixing.