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The Discovery of Radon

Radon is a radioactive element that is found in group 18 of the periodic table of elements. Because it is a radioactive element, it gives off radiation and breaks down to form lighter elements such as bismuth and lead. Furthermore, radon is formed as a result of the breakdown of heavier elements like thorium and uranium.

  1. The Facts

    • Radon's atomic number (the number of protons) is 86 and its atomic mass is 222.0176. It is represented by the symbol Rn and is considered to be a noble gas (chemically inactive elements). Noble gases, also called inert gases, are known for their ability to combine with other elements under only extreme conditions.

    History

    • Antoine-Henri Becquerel, a French physicist, discovered radioactivity in 1896. He noticed that a photographic plate was exposed even when put next to pitchblende (a black mineral), in the dark. His colleague, Marie Curie, a Polish-French chemist, offered an explanation for this phenomenon, stating that the pitchblende gives off radiation. She also suggested the name "radioactivity," according to Chemistry Explained.

    Considerations

    • Marie Curie and her husband Pierre Curie continued their work on radioactivity for the next decade. They successfully isolated two new radioactive elements: radium and polonium. A third radioactive element was discovered in 1900 by Frierich Ernst Dorn, a German physicist.

    Discovery

    • Dorn discovered the third element as a result of an observation made by Curie that neither she nor her husband investigated further. Dorn found that air becomes radioactive when it is exposed to radium, according to Chemistry Explained. This is the result of radium producing a gas when it breaks apart. Dorn named the radioactive gas produced from radium "emanation." Other names were also considered, but scientists eventually settled on the name radon.

    Features

    • After the element was named, further studies needed to be conducted in order to place radon in the correct location on the periodic table of elements. In 1903, Sir William Ramsay, a Scottish chemist, determined radon's atomic weight and indicated that it belongs beneath xenon in group 18 of the periodic table. Further credit in radon's discovery is also given to Robert B. Owens and Andre Louis Debierne, according to Chemistry Explained. In 1899, Owens also discovered the presence of a radioactive gas emanating from radium and named it thoron and, in 1903, Debierne made a similar discovery and named the gas actinon. Because the discoveries were independent, all three men are credited with the discovery of radon.

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