Argon
Argon
For light bulbs.
History
(Gr. argos, inactive) Its presence in air was suspected by Cavendish in 1785, discovered by Lord Rayleigh and Sir William Ramsay in 1894.
Sources
The gas is prepared by fractionation of liquid air because the atmosphere contains 0.94% argon. The atmosphere of Mars contains 1.6% of 40Ar and 5 p.p.m. of 36Ar.
Properties
Argon is two and one half times as soluble in water as nitrogen, having about the same solubility as oxygen. Argon is colorless and odorless, both as a gas and liquid. Argon is considered to be a very inert gas and is not known to form true chemical compounds, as do krypton, xenon, and radon.
Isotopes
Naturally occurring argon is a mixture of three isotopes. Twelve other radioactive isotopes are known to exist.
Uses
It is used in electric light bulbs and in fluorescent tubes at a pressure of about 400 Pa. and in filling photo tubes, glow tubes, etc. Argon is also used as an inert gas shield for arc welding and cutting, as blanket for the production of titanium and other reactive elements, and as a protective atmosphere for growing silicon and germanium crystals.
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Argon
Sources: CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics and the American Chemical Society.
Last Updated: 12/19/97, CST Information Services Team
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Potassium
Potassium
For fertilizer.
History
(English, potash - pot ashes; L.. kalium, Arab qali, alkali) Discovered in 1807 by Davy, who obtained it from caustic potash (KOH); this was the first metal isolated by electrolysis.
Sources
The metal is the seventh most abundant and makes up about 2.4% by weight of the earth's crust. Most potassium minerals are insoluble and the metal is obtained from them only with great difficulty.
Certain minerals, however, such as sylvite, carnallite, langbeinite, and polyhalite are found in ancientlake and sea beds and form rather extensive deposits from which potassium and its salts can readily be obtained. Potash is mined in Germany, New Mexico, California, Utah, and elsewhere. Large deposits of potash, found at a depth of some 3000 ft in Saskatchewan, promise to be important in coming years.
Potassium is also found in the ocean, but is present only in relatively small amounts, compared to sodium.
Production
Potassium is never found free in nature, but is obtained by electrolysis of the hydroxide, much in the same manner as prepared by Davy. Thermal methods also are commonly used to produce potassium (such as by reduction of potassium compounds with CaC2, C, Si, or Na).
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Potassium
Uses
The greatest demand for potash has been in its use for fertilizers. Potassium is an essential constituent for plant growth and is found in most soils.
An alloy of sodium and potassium (NaK) is used as a heat-transfer medium. Many potassium salts are of utmost importance, including the hydroxide, nitrate, carbonate, chloride, chlorate, bromide, iodide, cyanide, sulfate, chromate, and dichromate.
Properties
It is one of the most reactive and electropositive of metals. Except for lithium, it is the lightest known metal. It is soft, easily cut with a knife, and is silvery in appearance immediately after a fresh surface is exposed. It rapidly oxidizes in air and must be preserved in a mineral oil such as kerosene.
As with other metals of the alkali group, it decomposes in water with the evolution of hydrogen. It catches fire spontaneously on water. Potassium and its salts impart a violet color to flames.
Isotopes
Seventeen isotopes of potassium are known. Ordinary potassium is composed of three isotopes, one of which is 40oK (0.0118%), a radioactive isotope with a half-life of 1.28 x 109 years.
Handling
The radioactivity presents no appreciable hazard.
Cost
Metallic potassium is available commercially for about $40/lb in small quantities.
Sources: CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics and the American Chemical Society.
Last Updated: 12/19/97, CST Information Services Team
http://pearl1.lanl.gov/periodic/elements/19.html (2 of 2) [3/6/2001 8:38:08 AM]