Argon Atomic number 18 Nobility Commentary

London—John William Strutt Lord Rayleigh, William Ramsay elements

Argon

The lazy gas, call it “argon” from the Greek, doesn’t react with other elements, a “noble” gas. William Ramsay and the noble Baron Rayleigh had determined that a fourth gas lurked in our atmosphere because nitrogen produced from chemical compounds was lighter than nitrogen from the atmosphere. They removed all the oxygen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and nitrogen from a sample of air. The residue, less than one percent, was argon.

Atomic number 18

A relatively cheap, chemically inert gas for incandescent and fluorescent lighting and preserving the Declaration of Independence. A blue ion laser for surgery, a blue-green gas-discharge lamp, a transparent insulation between windowpanes.

Nobility

Odorless unlike me colorless compared to my yellow skin and monatomic whereas I am bound to my sweetheart. True nobility is not being aloof but recognizing the nobility of others. Every creature has an inborn nobility which I may choose to deny in the case of snails and slugs.