KS4 Chemistry

Noble Gases

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 Contents

Noble Gases

Discovery and electron structure

Physical properties

Uses

Summary activities

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 Group 0 – the noble gases
Noble gases are in group 0 of the periodic table, on the right.
0
H He

Li Be B C N O F Ne

Na Mg Al Si P S Cl Ar

K Ca Sc Ti V Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se Br Kr

Rb Sr Y Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd In Sn Sb Te I Xe

Cs Ba La Hf Ta W Re Os Ir Pt Au Hg Tl Pb Bi Po At Rn

Fr Ra Ac Rf Db Sg Bh Hs Mt Ds Rg ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

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 Discovery of argon
The noble gases were discovered and isolated in the 1890s
by William Ramsey, Lord Rayleigh, and Morris Travers.

Noble gases had actually been first discovered, but not

recognized, by Henry Cavendish in 1766. He had passed a
series of electric sparks through a mixture of air and oxygen,
and collected the gases that were produced.

Each time he did the experiment, around 1% of the gas

mixture did not react.

Ramsay and his colleagues did further

experiments and finally isolated a new
element, which they called argon, from the
Greek ‘argos’ meaning lazy or inactive.

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 Discovery of the other noble gases
Once Ramsay had discovered argon, he realised that there
was no place in the periodic table for it to fit. He predicted
that argon belonged to a whole new group of elements.

In 1885 Ramsay identified helium, and in 1888 he

identified neon, krypton and xenon after studying liquid air.

Radon was discovered in 1900.

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 The noble gases
Why are noble gases so unreactive?

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 Electron structure and reactivity
All noble gases have full outer electron shells and do not
need to gain, lose or share electrons. This means that:

helium  They are very stable and the

2 most unreactive (or inert) of
all the elements.

neon
2,8  They do not normally form
bonds with other elements.

 They are monatomic, which

argon means they exist as individual
2,8,8 atoms. Most other gases are
diatomic.

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 Group 8 becomes group 0
Why is group 0 not called group 8, even though it comes after
group 7?
It used to be called group 8, and still is in some cases.
8
0
In the rest of the periodic table, the number of
He the group is the same as the number of outer
Ne shell electrons in the elements of that group.

Ar
However, this is not true for the noble gases.
Kr Helium only has 2 electrons in its outer shell,
while the others all have 8. The group’s
Xe number was changed to 0 because of this.
Rn

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 Contents

Noble Gases

Discovery and electron structure

Physical properties

Uses

Summary activities

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 General properties of noble gases
All noble gases are colourless, odourless and unreactive.
This makes them difficult to isolate and identify.

Because noble gases are so unreactive, there are few

patterns, or trends, among the group.

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Patterns: Density!

- There can be few chemical patterns for a group as

unreactive as this.
- There are still trends in physical properties

8.9

5.45 Rn
Xe
3.46
Density g/dm- Kr
3 Ar
1.66
Ne
0.84 He

0.17

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 - There are also trends in boiling point.

- Can you predict the B.Pts of Kr Xe and Rn?

-62

-108 Rn
Xe
-152
Boiling Point Kr
C Ar
-186
Ne
-246 He

-269

-300 -200 -100 0

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 Patterns: density

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 Comparing the density of noble gases

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 Patterns: boiling point

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 Contents

Noble Gases

Discovery and electron structure

Physical properties

Uses

Summary activities

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 Uses of noble gases
Although noble gases are unreactive, they are still
very useful elements.

Many uses of noble gases depend on their ability to prevent

other, undesirable, reactions taking place.

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 Uses of helium
Helium is used as:
 The gas for inflating balloons and
airships, because it is less dense
than air and inflammable.

 A component of breathing gas (with oxygen) for deep-sea

divers, because it is unreactive, insoluble and prevents
divers getting ‘the bends’.

 A protective gas for growing silicon

crystals in silicon chip manufacture,
because it is unreactive.
 A super-coolant for high-performance
magnets, e.g. in body scanners, because it has a very
low boiling point (-269 °C).
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 Uses of neon
Neon is used:
 In ‘neon’ advertising signs,
because it glows red when an
electric current is passed
through it.

 In TV tubes.

 In certain types of lasers.

 As a cryogenic refrigerant
(when liquid).

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 Uses of argon
Argon is used:
 In normal wire-filament light bulbs, because it is unreactive
and prevents the tungsten filament from burning.

 In energy-efficient
fluorescent light bulbs.

 As a ‘gas blanket’ for arc welding, because it is

unreactive and prevents the hot welding metal from
oxidizing.

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 Uses of other noble gases
Krypton is used:
 In lasers for eye surgery, to stop bleeding on the retina.
 In lighthouses and other types of lamps( airport
landing lights)
Xenon is used:
 In various types of electron tubes, lamps , photographers
flash gun and lasers.

Radon is used:
 To treat cancer by radiotherapy, because it is radioactive.

However, because radon is radioactive, it is also an

environmental hazard.

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 True or false?

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 Contents

Noble Gases

Discovery and electron structure

Physical properties

Uses

Summary activities

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 Glossary

 density – A measure of mass in a given volume. Often

expressed in g/dm3.

 inert – Describes a substance that is unreactive under

normal conditions.

 monoatomic – An element that exists as a single atom.

 noble gas – An element belonging to group 0 of the
periodic table.

 trend – A gradual change in a property or characteristic of

elements in the same group of the periodic table.

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 Anagrams

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 Multiple-choice quiz

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