Wikijunior:The Elements/Krypton

Shows the position of Krypton on the periodic chart.

Krypton's symbol on the Periodic Table

What does it look, feel, taste, or smell like?

Krypton is an odorless and colorless gas.

How was it discovered?

It was discovered on May 30, 1898 by Sir William Ramsay, a Scottish chemist, and Morris M. Travers, an English chemist. They discovered it by boiling liquified air and some of the liquid that was left was Krypton. Due to Krypton's (relatively) high boiling point at -153.415 C, the more abundant gases or low boiling point gases evaporated and what was left was Krypton.

Krypton element form

Where did its name come from?

The name comes from the Greek word kryptos, which translates to English as hidden.

Where is it found?

The only source for Krypton is the Earth’s atmosphere. It is believed that the Earth’s atmosphere is around 0.0001% Krypton gas.

What are its uses?

Krypton gas discharge tube

Krypton is used as a filling gas in fluorescent light. It is also used for flash lamps and high speed photography. It can also be used for lasers and was also used in the Cold War to measure Soviet nuclear production.

Is it dangerous?

Krypton is an odorless and colorless gas. Since it is a noble gas, it is inactive. Noble gases barely react to anything, so they are not considered dangerous. The only gas Krypton reacts to is Fluorine which creates Krypton Difluoride.