Radon

Located at Group 18 and Period 6 of the Periodic Table is one of the element used in cancer therapy. This is Radon.

Friedrich Ernst Dorn

First discovered by Friedrich Ernst Dorn, which is a German chemist in 1900, and also isolated by Friedrich Ernst Dorn, also in 1900 too.

Antoine Henri Becquerel

Actually, Antoine Henri Becquerel first discovered radioactivity in Pitchblende, then the Curies went further investigating why does Pitchblende emits radiation, which after that, eventually, they isolated Radium and Polonium. After the discovery of Radium and Polonium, Friedrich Ernst Dorn isolated the Third Radioactive element in Pitchblende, which after that is called Radon.

Radon is actually ' emanated ', which is the term Friedrich gave when he isolated Radon. Radon didn't actually exist in the ore. Instead, Radon was formed in the ore when Radium contacted with Oxygen. So, the term ' emanated ' actually means something is given off. For this Radium case, Radon is gave off. So, it should be called Radon is formed by Radium emanation.

Pitchblende

The fact that Friedrich got this idea is mainly because of the observation the Curies made a few years ago, which is when they isolated Radium, the surrounding air became radioactive. The Curies never do further research to this. However, Friedrich did.

After a few researches, Friedrich proved that Radium actually produces a gas as it breaks apart. As the radioactive gas escapes into the air, diffusion happens and eventually the radioactivity of Radon spreads randomly through the air.

Diffusion diagram

The credit of discovering Radon was probably shared among many scientists. For instance, in 1899, a scientist called Robert B. Owens announced the presence of Radioactive gas which he himself named it Thoron. In 1903, French Chemist made a similar discovery that proves Friedrich's discovery. He named the gas Actinon. So, the credit for discovery of Radon is shared among these scientists.

As for the location of Radon, it was given by the first 4 noble gases' discoverer, Sir William Ramsay. William discovered and isolated Helium, Neon, Krypton and Xenon along with his assistant, Morris Travers. So, in 1903, William and his assistant Morris was able to determine the atomic weight of Radon. He proved that Radon is supposed to be beneath Xenon at Group 18 in the Periodic Table.

Radon is very radioactive. The radiation given off by Radon is radioactive enough to kill cells. There is even a risk of inhaling Radon in your own basement too, since Radon can also be formed by Uranium breaking down. Maybe Uranium might be underneath your home. Although Uranium can also form Radium, Thorium, Bismuth and Lead, they are not enough to worry about, since they are solids that stays underground.

How a Geiger looks like

However, Radon is much to worry. Because Radon is a gas, it float upwards, and out of the earth, and go into your nose. However, you need not need to worry about dying because the Half lives of Radon is not that long, so chances are that if they reached the ground, the Radon might disappear quickly.

If you inhale too much Radon, lung cancers may happen. Scientists predict that Radon might be one of the causes that cause over 20000 cases of lung cancer per year. If this prediction is true, then Radon would be the second leading cause of this disease after smoking.

However, there's no need to worry about inhaling Radon since there are Radon test kits ( or called Geiger ) can be purchased easily at low prices. So, you need not need to worry about inhaling Radon!

Don't Smoke!

Still, smoking is one of the cause of Lung cancer. So, don't smoke!

Atomic Number : 86
Name : Radon
Latin Name : Radon
Electrons per shell : [ 2, 8, 18, 32, 18, 8, ]
Discoverer : Friedrich Ernst Dorn ( 1900 )
Isolator : Friedrich Ernst Dorn ( 1900 )
Element's : Atomic Mass : 222 u ( estimated )
                  : Density : 0.00973 g/cm³
                  : Type : Noble Gas
Chemical Properties : 

Radon - 222

• Chemically inert
• Reacts with Fluorine to form Radon Fluoride
• 49 isotopes : 3 of them are :
     Radon - 210 : Protons : 86
                          : Neutrons : 124
                          : Electrons : 86
     ( Half Life : 2.4 hours )
  
     Radon - 211 : Protons : 86
                          : Neutrons : 125
                          : Electrons : 86
     ( Half Life : 14.6 hours )
  
     Radon - 222 : Protons : 86
                          : Neutrons : 136
                          : Electrons : 86
     ( Half Life : 3.8235 days )

Physical Properties :

• colorless
• odorless
• densest gas
• highly radioactive
• Melting Point : - 71.15 degrees Celsius ( - 96.07 Fahrenheit )
• Boiling Point : - 61.8 degrees Celsius ( 79.2 Fahrenheit )

  

  Radioactive Hazard Symbol

How Radon got its name?

Firstly, lets clarify. Don't get confused with the Game Injustice Raiden. Although the pronunciation is almost the same, that still doesn't mean that Raiden is Radon. Radon got its name from its parent, which is Radium.

Raiden

Uses

Radon's uses are based on its radiation. Too high, it harms health. Too low, it's generally useless. So, moderate radiation emitted Radon was used in cancer therapy, where Radon is carefully inserted into our body. The radiation Radon gives off can kill cancer cells. However, the side effects of this therapy is the radiation emitted can not only kill cancer cells, it can kill healthy cells too. So this therapy wasn't used that much. Instead, other therapy are invented to avoid this therapy.

THIS IS THE END OF RADON

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