Krypton and xenon are used to fill some very bright car headlamps and photographic flash lamps, where the gas becomes extremely hot. This use is possible ma...
Question 1 Report
Krypton and xenon are used to fill some very bright car headlamps and photographic flash lamps, where the gas becomes extremely hot. This use is possible mainly because these noble gases are...
Answer Details
Inside these lamps the gas is at a high temperature and surrounds hot metal parts, so it must not attack them or take part in any reaction. Krypton and xenon can be used because they are unreactive, so they do not damage the hot lamp.
Each has a full outer shell of eight electrons, so there is no tendency to gain, lose or share electrons even at high temperature. They also let the metal parts run hotter and brighter without oxidising, since no oxygen is present.
These gases do not burn, so they cannot be flammable, and they are certainly not acids that could etch glass. They are not chosen as conductors either: the current passes through the gas only once a high voltage has ionised it.
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