What is Krypton?
Krypton is a gaseous chemical element which exists in concentrations of about one part per million in the Earth’s atmosphere. Since it exists in low concentrations, it is difficult and expensive to extract, making it rather expensive when it reaches the market. The most common use of krypton is in lighting, since the gas glows a very bright white when it conducts current. Many so-called “neon” signs are actually made with krypton in colored tubes which glow as the gas turns into plasma. The groundwork for finding krypton was laid in 1785, when Henry Cavendish observed that the air contained a fraction which was neither oxygen nor nitrogen. It turns out that several elements which came to be known as the noble gases were present in this fraction, and scientists began to identify these gases one by one. Krypton was discovered in 1898 by William Ramsay and Morris Travers, along with neon and xenon. Like many noble gases, krypton is odorless, colorless, and tasteless. When it is solidified
Under normal conditions krypton is colourless, odourless, fairly expensive gas. Solid krypton is a white crystalline substance with a face-centered cubic structure which is common to all the “rare gases”. Krypton difluoride, KrF2, has been prepared in gram quantities and can be made by several methods. krypton is present to a small extent (about 1 ppm by volume) in the atmosphere and is obtained as a byproduct from the liquefaction and separation of air. This would not normally be carried out in the laboratory and krypton is available commercially in cylinders at high pressure.
