Who Discovered Argon
By: Want To Know It
Argon is a chemical element with the symbol Ar. Its atomic number is 18 and is in group 18 of the periodic table, making it a noble gas. Argon is the most abundant noble gas in the Earth’s atmosphere. But who discovered argon? This article will answer exactly that question and also look at seven interesting facts about argon.
Who Discovered Argon
In 1785, Henry Cavendish suspected that there was a very unreactive gas in the Earth’s atmosphere but he couldn’t identify it. In 1882, H.F. Newall and W.N. Hartley both looked at the color spectrum for air and found some lines that they couldn’t account for. They could not identify the element responsible for these strange lines in the spectrum. We now know that argon makes those particular lines in the color spectrum. Only in 1894 was argon discovered. Lord Rayleigh and Sir William Ramsay removed all the oxygen and nitrogen from a sample of air and discovered argon. So now you know who discovered argon. Now let’s look at six fast facts about argon.
Six Facts about Argon
Fact 1: Argon was named after the Greek work ‘argon’ which means ‘lazy one’. This name was given in reference to its chemical inactivity.
Fact 2: Argon is colorless, tasteless, odorless and non-toxic in both gas form and liquid form. It is inert (unreactive) in almost all forms and conditions, forming no stable compounds at room temperature.
Fact 3: Argon is slightly soluble in water. It has the same solubility as oxygen gas, and is three times more soluble that nitrogen gas.
Fact 4: While argon is almost completely unreactive, researchers have determined that it can form argon hydrofluoride (HArF) in specific conditions.
Fact 5: The planet Mercury has a very thin atmosphere that is believed to contain up to 70% argon.
Fact 6: Argon, like many noble gases, is used in welding.
20 Comments for Who Discovered Argon
1. Sam | March 22nd, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Haha, thanks :]
Really helped me out~
2. Dane Tasker | March 23rd, 2009 at 6:55 am
Thanks a lot guys:)
By the way, nice links!
and also, i would like to thank you for helping me do my science assignment.
(I’m in Year Eight)
Laters
3. stacey | May 5th, 2009 at 9:04 am
wow i like this website
cos it’s really direct and gets to the point
unlike others that just go on and on about nothing
you helped me a lot!!
thanx a bunch!
4. Kiri Evans | May 10th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
im in 7th grade, and u guys just ttly saved my life. this place rocks! thanx 4 all the help. c ya!
5. gas | May 21st, 2009 at 10:45 pm
I like this website it rocks it is a cool website and I got much info.
Thank U!
6. Ezza | June 10th, 2009 at 7:12 am
this is gr8 stuff!
it really help me out with science homework!
it was awesome! thanx!
7. Gabi | September 7th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
thx. really helped me
8. kersty | October 3rd, 2009 at 4:06 pm
wow … this really helped me out ,,, i have this BIG project due monday ….. soo yeahh it helped me out big timee hehe
thanx alot 
9. Amanda | November 22nd, 2009 at 10:23 pm
omg! thank you! im a freshmen and wow this totally helped me on my power point!!! thank you
XOXO!
10. Olivia | November 23rd, 2009 at 2:01 am
Than you so much I’m in 8th grade and I have to give an oral presentation about argon tomorrow and this was so easy to follow it saved my life thank you!
11. Pierre | November 30th, 2009 at 3:47 am
Thanks.
Helped out a lot on my atom poster XD
12. micheal | December 1st, 2009 at 10:31 pm
thanks i am in 6th grade and i had a huge report on it and this website was all i needed thnx u rock
13. Marko | January 13th, 2010 at 10:22 pm
I’m In grade 7 and I’m working on a huge project
thx soooo much Wanttoknowit.com
14. Sierra | February 1st, 2010 at 2:07 am
I am in 8th grade and I have FIVE projects due at the same time. It has really stressed me out but wanttoknowit.com helped me a TON. It gave me almost everything I needed for the essay and powerpoint. Thanks so much!!!
15. Katia | March 1st, 2010 at 11:39 pm
OMG thanks SO much we had to make a element periodic table project and that helped SO MUCH ThANX! OH And i’m in only 6th grade lol talk about ur hard work
TNX
16. Rob | March 21st, 2010 at 11:52 am
You guys saved my life im in 6th grade and I needed this info for my project
17. Mari | March 26th, 2010 at 6:54 pm
Dude! Thank you.
I am a 14 year old girl and I would’ve died if I didn’t get this assignment done.
18. jim | April 18th, 2010 at 5:13 pm
thank God i found this i came back from Egypt and had home work aced it
19. Ben shayler | April 29th, 2010 at 7:07 am
OMG
this website is like sooooooo good
i am in year 8 and studying argon
thnx alot for your help
20. uttam | July 26th, 2010 at 9:19 am
hi, i m from bangladesh.. Where all info is not so available…. Bt info about argon is important for my university admission… This website really helps me… Thanks..
Leave a Comment for Who Discovered Argon