Discovery date : 1898
Discovered by: Sir William Ramsay and Morris Travers
Origin of the name: The name is derived from the Greek 'kryptos', meaning hidden.
Allotropes :
~>KRYPTON is a chemical element with symbol Kr and atomic number 36. It is a member of group 18 (noble gases) elements. A colorless, odorless, tasteless noble gas, krypton occurs in trace amounts in the atmosphere and is often used with other rare gases in fluorescent lamps. With rare exceptions, krypton is chemically inert.
| FACT BOX | |||
| Group | 18 | Melting point | −157.37°C, −251.27°F, 115.78 K |
| Period | 4 | Boiling point | −153.415°C, −244.147°F, 119.735 K |
| Block | d | Density (g cm−3) | 0.003425 |
| Atomic number | 36 | Relative atomic mass | 83.798 |
| State at 20°C | Gas | Key isotopes | 84Kr |
| Electron configuration | [Ar] 3d104s24p6 | CAS number | 7439-90-9 |
| ChemSpider ID | 5223 | ChemSpider is a free chemical structure database | |
Having discovered the noble gas argon, extracted from air, William Ramsay and Morris William Travers of University College, London, were convinced this must be one of a new group of elements of the periodic table. They decided others were likely to be hidden in the argon and by a process of liquefaction and evaporation they hoped it might leave behind a heavier component, and it did. It yielded krypton in the afternoon of 30th May 1898, and they were able to isolate about 25 cm3 of the new gas. This they immediately tested in a spectrometer, and saw from its atomic spectrum that it was a new element.