INTRODUCTION

The noble gases are a group of chemical elements with very similar properties: under standard conditions, they are all odorless, colorless, monatomic gases, with very low chemical reactivity. The six noble gases that occur naturally are helium (He), neon (Ne), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe), and the radioactive radon (Rn).

Why are they called 'Noble'?

Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.217.179.134 (talk) 17:42, 18 May 2009 (UTC) Well, the gases are referred to as noble gases as they rarely form compunds and the compounds that they form are rare. They are considered more stable compared to other elements and hence have claimed the title of noble gases.

Where are the noble gases?

The elements in group 0, on the right of the periodic table, are called the noble gases

Pierre Janssen and Joseph Norman Lockyer discovered a new element on August 18, 1868 while looking at the chromosphere of the Sun, and named it helium after the Greek word for the Sun, (lios or helios). No chemical analysis was possible at the time, but helium was later found to be a noble gas. Before them, in 1784, the English chemist and physicist Henry Cavendish had discovered that air contains a small proportion of a substance less reactive than nitrogen. A century later, in 1895, Lord Rayleigh discovered that samples of nitrogen from the air were of a different density than nitrogen resulting from chemical reactions. Along with scientist William Ramsay at University College, London, Lord Rayleigh theorized that the nitrogen extracted from air was mixed with another gas, leading to an experiment that successfully isolated a new element, argon, from the Greek word (args, "inactive"). With this discovery, they realized an entire class of gases was missing from the periodic table. During his search for argon, Ramsay also managed to isolate helium for the first time while heating cleveite, a mineral. In 1902, having accepted the evidence for the elements helium and argon, Dmitri Mendeleev included these noble gases as group 0 in his arrangement of the elements, which would later become the periodic table.

As a result of a full shell, the noble gases can be used in conjunction with the electron configuration notation to form the noble gas notation. To do this, the nearest noble gas that precedes the element in question is written first, and then the electron configuration is continued from that point forward. For example, the electron notation of mercury is: 1s22s22p63s23p64s23d104p65s24d105p66s24f145d1
0

Chemical properties

The noble gases are:

*colorless, odorless, tasteless, and nonflammable under standard conditions.
*They were once labeled group 0 in the periodic table because it was believed they had a valence of zero, meaning their atoms cannot combine with those of other elements to form compounds. However, it was later discovered some do indeed form compounds, causing this label to fall into disuse.[11]

Element helium neon argon krypton xenon radon

No. of electrons/shell 2 2, 8 2, 8, 8 2, 8, 18, 8 2, 8, 18, 18, 8

2, 8, 18, 32, 18, 8

The noble gases have full valence electron shells. Valence electrons are the outermost electrons of an atom and are normally the only electrons that participate in chemical bonding. Atoms with full valence electron shells are extremely stable and therefore do not tend to form chemical bonds and have little tendency to gain or lose electrons.[24] However, heavier noble gases such as radon are held less firmly together by electromagnetic force than lighter noble gases such as helium, making it easier to remove outer electrons from heavy noble gases.

The Atomic and Physical Properties Atomic mass, boiling point and atomic radii INCREASE down a group in the periodic table . The first ionization energy, DECREASES down a group in the periodic table . The noble gases have the largest ionization energies which reflects their chemical inertness. As you go down group 18, atomic radius and interatomic forces INCREASES resulting in an INCREASED melting point, boiling point, enthalpy of vaporization and solubility . Group 18's INCREASE in density is correlated to the INCREASE in atomic mass. Because they are INCREASING in atomic size, the electron clouds of these non polar atoms become increasingly polarized which leads to weak van Der Waals forces among the atoms. Thus, the formation of liquids and solids is more easily attainable for these heavier elements because of their melting and boiling points.

The Atomic and Physical Properties Because noble gases outer shell is full, they are extremely stable, not tending to form chemical bonds and have a low tendency to gain or lose electrons. Under standard conditions the members of the noble gas group behave similarly. All are monotomic gases under standard conditions. Noble gas atoms, like other atoms in other groups, INCREASE steadily in atomic radius from one period to the next due to the INCREASING number of electrons . The size of the atom is positively correlated to several properties of noble gases. The ionization potential DECREASES with an INCREASING radius, because the valence electrons in the larger noble gases are further away from the nucleus, so they are not being held as tightly together by the atom . The attractive force INCREASES with the size of the atom as a result of an INCREASE in polarizability and thus a DECREASE in ionization potential. Overall, noble gases have weak interatomic forces, and therefore very low boiling and melting points compared to other group elements.

PROPERTIES OF NOBLE GASES

(1) Atomic radii : The atomic radii of noble gases increases on moving down the group and their atomic radii correspond to the vander Waals radii. (2) Boiling points : The m.pt. and b.pt. increases from He to Rn, because of increase in magnitude of vander Waals forces. (3) Polarizabiltiy : The polarizability increases down the group, He < Ne < Ar < Kr < Xe (4) Ionization energy and electron affinity : Noble gases have stable ns2np6 fully filled electronic configuration, so these have no tendency to add or lose electron. Therefore, ionization energy of noble gases is very high. On the other hand their electron affinity is zero.

(5) Heat of vaporization : They posses very low values of heat of vaporization, because of presence of very weak vander Waals forces of attraction between their monoatomic molecules. However the value of heat of vaporization increases with atomic number down the group and this shows that there is an increasing polarizability of the larger electronic clouds of the elements with higher atomic number. (6) Solubility in water : They are slightly soluble in water. Their solubility generally increases with the increase in atomic number down the group.

(7) Adsorption by charcoal : All of them except helium are adsorbed by cocount charcoal at low temperature. The extent of adsorption increases down the group.

(8) Characteristic spectra : All of them give characteristic spectra, by which they can be identified. (9) Liquification of gases : It is difficult to liquify noble gases as their atoms are held by weak vander Waals forces. Ease of liquification increases down the group from He to Rn. Helium has the lowest boiling point (4.18 K) of any known substance. The ease of liquification increases down the group due to increase in intermolecular forces.

Basic Information

Symbol: He Atomic Number: 2 Atomic Mass: 4.002602 amu Melting Point: -272.0 C (1.15 K, 457.6 F) Boiling Point: -268.6 C (4.549994 K, -451.48 F) Number of Protons/Electrons: 2 Number of Neutrons: 2 Classification: Noble gases Crystal Structure: Hexagonal Density @ 293 K: 0.1785 g/cm3 Color: colorless

Name: Neon Symbol: Ne Atomic Number: 10 Atomic Mass: 20.1797 amu Melting Point: -248.6 C (24.549994 K, -415.48 F) Boiling Point: -246.1 C (27.049994 K, -410.98 F) Number of Protons/Electrons: 10 Number of Neutrons: 10 Classification: Noble gases Crystal Structure: Cubic Density @ 293 K: 0.901 g/cm3 Color: colorless

Name: Argon Symbol: Ar Atomic Number: 18 Atomic Mass: 39.948 amu Melting Point: -189.3 C (83.85 K, -308.74 F) Boiling Point: -186.0 C (87.15 K, -302.8 F) Number of Protons/Electrons: 18 Number of Neutrons: 22 Classification: Noble gases Crystal Structure: Cubic Density @ 293 K: 1.784 g/cm3 Color: Colorless Gas

Symbol: Xe Atomic Number: 54 Atomic Mass: 131.29 amu Melting Point: -111.9 C (161.25 K, -169.42 F) Number of Protons/Electrons: 54 Number of Neutrons: 77 Classification: Noble gases Crystal Structure: Cubic Density @ 293 K: 5.8971 g/cm3 Color: Colorless Gas

Name: Krypton Symbol: Kr Atomic Number: 36 Atomic Mass: 83.8 amu Melting Point: -157.2 C (115.950005 K, -250.95999 F) Boiling Point: -153.4 C (119.75001 K, -244.12 F) Number of Protons/Electrons: 36 Number of Neutrons: 48 Classification: Noble gases Crystal Structure: Cubic Density @ 293 K: 3.74 g/cm3 Color: colorless gas

Name: Radon Symbol: Rn Atomic Number: 86 Atomic Mass: (222.0) amu Melting Point: -71.0 C (202.15 K, -95.8 F) Boiling Point: -61.8 C (211.35 K, -79.24 F) Number of Protons/Electrons: 86 Number of Neutrons: 136 Classification: Noble gases Crystal Structure: Cubic Density @ 293 K: 9.73 g/cm3 Color: colorless

Argon is used in the synthesis of air-sensitive compounds that are sensitive to nitrogen. Solid argon is also used for the study of very unstable compounds, such as reactive intermediates, by trapping them in an inert matrix at very low temperatures. Helium is used as the carrier medium in gas chromatography, as a filler gas for thermometers, and in devices for measuring radiation, such as the Geiger counter and the bubble chamber. Helium and argon are both commonly used to shield welding arcs and the surrounding base metal from the atmosphere during welding and cutting, as well as in other metallurgical processes and in the production of silicon for the semiconductor industry. helium has replaced hydrogen as a lifting gas in blimps and balloons due to its

Lightness and incombustibility, despite an 8.6% decrease in buoyancy.

Noble gases are commonly used in lighting because of their lack of chemical reactivity. Argon, mixed with nitrogen, is used as a filler gas for incandescent light bulbs. Liquid helium is used to cool the superconducting magnets in modern MRI scanners Krypton is used in high-performance light bulbs, which have higher color temperatures and greater efficiency, because it reduces the rate of evaporation of the filament more than argon; halogen lamps, in particular, use krypton mixed with small amounts of compounds of iodine or bromine

Xenon is commonly used in xenon arc lamps which, due to their nearly continuous spectrum that resembles daylight, find application in film projectors and as automobile headlamps.

Colors and spectra (bottom row) of electric discharge in pure noble gases The color of gas discharge emission depends on several factors, including the following: discharge parameters (local value of current density and electric field, temperature, etc. note the color variation along the discharge in the top row); gas purity (even small fraction of certain gases can affect color) material of the discharge tube envelope note suppression of the UV and blue components in the bottom-row tubes made of thick household glass.