The History of Radon
The man who is credited for the discovery of radon is Friedrich Ernst Dorn, He was a German chemist during the 1900’s. and he discovered it in the year 1923 at first he named it radium, then about eight years after that there were two scientist that William Ramsay and Robert Why law Gray and they changed the name to radon. there isn’t a lot of history behind this element but what we know is still a lot of information that can help us understand what it does and how this gas is made.
What it is used for?
Radon can’t be used for a lot considering that it is a radioactive gas and it is very deadly. It used to be used as treatment to heal tumors and other sicknesses and diseases. it would be pumped through a tube into the area that needed treatment and then it would destroy the tumor and save a persons live. Now we use much saver treatments for cases like this because radon was not the safest of all the treatments. Even tho radon was used to treat tumors, if you are exposed to it for a long period of time it will cause lung cancer. It’s not very likely to get lung cancer from radon but it is possible of you are exposes for long enough. There were not as many ways to treat tumors but these days there are a lot more options for this and they are much saver. This doesn’t mean that these treatment aren’t without side affects it but they do have a lot less chance of that happening. This is why radon isn’t used for cures or treatments anymore because we have found much better and more reliable ways to treat all of these sicknesses.
How reactive is radon?
Radon does not react to many other elements or to air or water, the list goes on and on. It is actually a very stable gas it is the densest out of all the gasses as well. The only thing that radon has a reaction with is halogens. Radon will react with fluorine and There isn’t a real formula for this compound but we write it out as RnF2, this is all that radon will react to that we know of so far, Hopefully someone will find something else that radon reacts with so that we can learn more about this element and how it works.
The abundance of Radon
Radon is always being produced because it is created by decay from radium, thorium and uranium. this means that there is not a lot of it around, where there is a lot of radium, thorium and uranium and it is always being produces. Radon is never not being produced because it is made by the breakdown and decay of radium, thorium and uranium, so unless those element were to just go away and not exist anymore (which is not going to happen because the earth will always be making theses elements) radon will always be around on in the air and in the ground.
What it is/where it is found and interesting facts.
Radon is a very deadly gas it is mostly found underground. Radon is found under houses, and buildings mostly it is just found seeping up from the ground and thats why it is found in basements and in sellers. or crawlspaces, it is made form natural decay and breakdown of uranium There are some states that have a lot higher levels of radon then other states. In some of these states that have higher levels of radon when houses and buildings are built there have to be a radon install a radon monitor and ventilation system so that the building wont fill with the gas.Radon is also one of the most radioactive gases and it is the densest of all the gases Most hot-springs it is a very radioactive gas. There are a couple of characteristic that make it hard to tell if there is radon in your house because radon has no color,shape,or smell. Radon is mostly found in enclosed places such as houses and buildings and thats why in some places people have to get radon vents put in their house or in a building.
Atomic number, Atomic mass, and symbol of radon
Atomic number - 86
Atomic mass - 222 u
Symbol - Rn
Characteristics of Radon
-It is colorless.
-it is odorless. `
-It is the densest of all the gasses.
Work cited
- Staff, By Live Science. "Facts About Radon." LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 10 Sept. 2013. Web. 27 Oct. 2015
- "Radon.” Theodore W.Gray - Nick Mann - Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers - 2009
- ”Radon and Cancer What Is Radon?" America Cancer Society. N.p., n.d. Web.
- "Radon: Reactions of Elements." Radon»reactions of Elements [WebElements Periodic Table]. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.