Science: Krypton Lamps

In 1,000,000 quarts of air there is one quart of krypton. An inert gas discovered in 1898 by Ramsay and Travers, krypton is scarcer and less volatile than argon, neon and xenon; its name means "the hidden one." In the U. S., small quantities of krypton have been obtained by Linde Air Products Co. and Air Reduction Co. during the fractional distillation (selective boiling) of liquid air, and sold to academic laboratories for $100 a litre if pure, $15 a litre if mixed. Argon or nitrogen at low pressure are the usual fillers for...

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