Krypton is a rare, gaseous element that is inert and only forms a few compounds. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless noble gas that occurs in trace amounts in the atmosphere and is often used with other rare gases in fluorescent lamps. Krypton is chemically inert and has few practical applications, mostly in bright white light bulbs used in photography and in devices used in physical and chemical research. Here are some of the uses of krypton:
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Fluorescent lamps: Krypton is used commercially as a filling gas for energy-saving fluorescent lights. It is mixed with argon in energy-efficient fluorescent lamps, reducing the power consumption, but also reducing the light output and raising the cost.
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Flash lamps: Krypton is used in some flash lamps used for high-speed photography. Its emission of bright white colors illuminates when activated, creating a crisp image.
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Lasers: Krypton light has many spectral lines, and krypton plasma is useful in bright, high-powered gas lasers (krypton ion and excimer lasers), each of which resonates and amplifies a single spectral line. Krypton fluoride also makes a useful laser medium.
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Nuclear medicine: The metastable isotope krypton-81m is used in nuclear medicine for lung ventilation/perfusion scans, where it is inhaled and imaged with a gamma camera.
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Detecting leaks: Radioactive krypton-85 is useful for detecting leaks in sealed containers, with the escaping atoms detected by means of their radiation.
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Defining the standard measure of length: From 1960 to 1983, the isotope krypton-86 was used to define the standard measure of length. One meter was defined as exactly 1,650,763.73 wavelengths of a line in the atomic spectrum of the isotope.
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Detecting Soviet nuclear production: Radioactive krypton was used during the Cold War to estimate Soviet nuclear production. The gas is a product of all nuclear reactors, so the Russian share was found by subtracting the amount that came from Western reactors from the total in the air.
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Filling gas between glass windowpanes: Krypton acts as the filler gas between glass windowpanes, which allows for cost and energy savings.
