Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Radon |
RadonNoun1. A radioactive gaseous element formed by the disintegration of radium; the heaviest of the inert gasses; occurs naturally (especially in areas over granite) and is considered a hazard to health. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
| Domain | Definitions |
Chemistry | Chemical element:atomic number 86. Source: European Union. (references) |
Energy | A naturally occurring radioactive gas found in the U.S. in nearly all types of soil, rock, and water. It can migrate into most buildings. Studies have linked high concentrations of radon to lung cancer. (references) |
| A radioactive element that is one of the heaviest gases known. Its atomic number is 86. It is a daughter of radium. (Rn). (references) | |
Environment | A colorless naturally occurring, radioactive, inert gas formed by radioactive decay of radium atoms in soil or rocks. (references) |
Health | A naturally radioactive element with atomic symbol Rn, atomic number 86, and atomic weight 222. It is a member of the noble gas family and released during the decay of radium and found in soil. There is a link between exposure to radon and lung cancer. (references) |
Mining | A. A heavy, radioactive, gaseous element; inert; the heaviest known gas. Symbol, Rn. Formed by the disintegration of uranium. Used similarly to radium in medicine. Radon build-up is a health consideration in uranium mines b. Heaviest known gas. Colorless as a gas; yellow to orange-red, phosphorescent, opaque crystals; sp gr of liquid, 4.4 (at -62 degrees C); and of solid, 4.0; soluble in water; and slightly soluble in alcohol and in organic liquids. All 18 known isotopes from radon-204 to radon-224 are radioactive. Radon-222 emanates from thorium; half-life, 54.5 s; and an alpha particle emitter; and radon-219 or actinon emanates from actinium; half-life, 3.92 s; and an alpha particle and a gamma ray emitter. One part of radon exists in 1 sextillion parts of ai. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
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| General | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Name, Symbol, Number | Radon, Rn, 86 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Chemical series | Noble gases | ||||||||||||||||||
| Group, Period, Block | 18 (VIIIA), 6 , p | ||||||||||||||||||
| Density, Hardness | 9.73 kg/m3 (273 K), NA | ||||||||||||||||||
| Appearance | colorless | ||||||||||||||||||
| Atomic Properties | |||||||||||||||||||
| Atomic weight | [222] amu | ||||||||||||||||||
| Atomic radius (calc.) | no data (120) pm | ||||||||||||||||||
| Covalent radius | 145 pm | ||||||||||||||||||
| van der Waals radius | no data | ||||||||||||||||||
| Electron configuration | [Xe]44f14 5d10 6s2 6p6 | ||||||||||||||||||
| e- 's per energy level | 2, 8, 18, 32, 18, 8 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Oxidation states (Oxide) | 0 (unknown) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Crystal structure | Cubic face centered | ||||||||||||||||||
| Physical Properties | |||||||||||||||||||
| State of matter | gas (nonmagnetic) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Melting point | 202 K (-96 °F) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Boiling point | 211.3 K (-79.1 °F) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Molar volume | 50.50 ×1010-3 m3/mol | ||||||||||||||||||
| Heat of vaporization | 16.4 kJ/mol | ||||||||||||||||||
| Heat of fusion | 2.89 kJ/mol | ||||||||||||||||||
| Vapor pressure | NA | ||||||||||||||||||
| Speed of sound | NA | ||||||||||||||||||
| Miscellaneous | |||||||||||||||||||
| Electronegativity | no data | ||||||||||||||||||
| Specific heat capacity | 94 J/(kg*K) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Electrical conductivity | no data | ||||||||||||||||||
| Thermal conductivity | 0.00364 W/(m*K) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1st ionization potential | 1037 kJ/mol | ||||||||||||||||||
| Most Stable Isotopes | |||||||||||||||||||
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| SI units & STP are used except where noted. | |||||||||||||||||||
Natural radon concentrations in Earth's atmosphere are so low that natural waters in contact with the atmosphere will continually lose radon by volatilization. Hence, ground water has a higher concentration of Rn-222 than surface water. Likewise, the saturated zone of a soil frequently has a higher radon content than the unsaturated zone due to diffusional losses to the atmosphere.
Because of its rapid loss to air, radon is used in hydrologic research that studies the interaction between ground water, streams and rivers. Any significant concentration of radon in a stream or river is a good indicator that there are local inputs of ground water.
Also, its solid decay products, and their respective products, tend to form a fine dust which can easily enter the airways and become permanently stuck in lung tissue, producing heavy localized exposure. Rooms where radium, actinium, or thorium are stored should be well-ventilated in order to prevent build-up in the air. The build-up of radon is a potential health hazard in uranium and some lead mines. Build-up of radon in homes has also been a more recent health concern and many lung cancer cases are attributed to radon exposure each year.
Notable Characteristics
Essentially inert, radon is the heaviest noble gas and one of the heaviest gases at room temperature. (The heaviest is tungsten hexafluoride, WF6.) At standard temperature and pressure radon is a colorless gas but when it is cooled below its freezing point is has a brilliant phosphorescence which turns yellow as the temperature is lowered and orange-red at the temperature air liquefies. Some experiments indicate that fluorine can react with radon and form radon fluoride. Radon clathrates have also been reported. Applications
Radon is sometimes produced by a few hospitals for therapeutic use by pumping its gas from a radium source and storing it in very small tubes which are called seeds or needles. This practice is being phased-out as hospitals get seeds from suppliers who make them with the desired activity levels. History
Radon (named for radium) was discovered in 1900 by Friedrich Ernst Dorn, who called it radium emanation. In 1908 William Ramsay and Robert Whytlaw-Gray, who named it niton (Latin nitens meaning "shining"), isolated it, determined its density and that it was the heaviest known gas. It has been called radon since 1923.
Occurrence
On average, one molecule of radon is in 1 x 1021 molecules of air. Every square mile of soil down to depth of 6 inches has about 1 gram of radium, which decays to radon and release tiny amounts of this deadly gas into the atmosphere. Radon can be found in some spring waters and hot springs.
Isotopes
There are twenty known isotopes of radon. The most stable isotope is radon-222 which is a decay product (daughter isotope) of radium-226, has a half-life of 3.823 days and emits radioactive alpha particles. Radon-220 is a natural decay product of thorium and is called thoron. It has a half-life of 55.6 seconds and also emits alpha rays. Radon-219 is derived from actinium, is called actinon, is an alpha emitter and has a half-life of 3.96 seconds.
Precautions
Radon is a carcinogenic gas.
Radon is a radioactive material and must be handled with care at all times. It is hazardous to inhale this element since it emits alpha particles. External links
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Radon."
Synonym: RadonSynonym: atomic number 86 (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Calefaction | Cauterizer; caustic, lunar caustic, alkali, apozem, moxa; acid, aqua fortis, aqua regia; catheretic, nitric acid, nitrochloro-hydric acid, nitromuriatic acid; radioactivity, gamma rays, alpha particles, beta rays, X-rays, radiation, cosmic radiation, background radiation, radioactive isotopes, tritium, uranium, plutonium, radon, radium. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Radon |
| English words defined with "radon": impermissibly. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "radon": Cumulative Working Level Months ♦ Depressurization ♦ face road ♦ Granular Activated Carbon Treatment ♦ M.U., mache unit, Mill tailings ♦ Phosphogypsum Piles ♦ radioactive gas, radon daughter, Radon Daughters/Radon Progeny, Radon Decay Products, radon progeny, radon transform, rare gas ♦ strata gases ♦ Terrestrial radiation ♦ Wood-Burning-Stove Pollution. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Radon" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. Albanian (niton, radon), Dutch (radon), French (radon), German (radon), Hungarian (radon), Italian (radon), Romanian (radon), Serbo-Croatian (radon), Swedish (niton, radon). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Movie/TV Titles | Sora no daikaijû Radon (1956) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
Consumer Goods | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "Radon" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 98.65% of the time. "Radon" is used about 148 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 98.65% | 146 | 26,107 |
| Noun (proper) | 1.35% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 148 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "radon" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Radon | Last name | 100 | 79,428 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
Expressions using "radon": Radon Daughters ♦ radon transform. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "radon": radon-measuring, radon-potential, radon-proof, radon-related, radon-rich. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
radon | 1,184 |
radon gas | 177 |
radon testing | 88 |
radon mitigation | 63 |
radon test | 58 |
radon detector | 42 |
radon test kit | 39 |
radon level | 28 |
radon fan | 19 |
radon remediation | 16 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "radon"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | radon (niton). (various references) | |
Arabic | غاز الرادون, رادون. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | радон. (various references) | |
Chinese | 氡", 氡 . (various references) | |
Danish | radon. (various references) | |
Dutch | radon. (various references) | |
Esperanto | radono. (various references) | |
Finnish | radon. (various references) | |
French | radon. (various references) | |
German | Radon. (various references) | |
Greek | ραδόνιο. (various references) | |
Hungarian | radon. (various references) | |
Italian | radon, rado (infrequent, light, occasional, sparse, thin). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | ラテン語 (labyrinth, Latin, Latvia, lavatory, lover, radical, radical realism, radish, rapid fire, ravioli, rough, rubber, rubber cement, rubber racket, rubber silk, rubber sole, rubber tile). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ラドン . (various references) | |
Korean | 라돈. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | adonray.(various references) | |
Portuguese | radão, rádon. (various references) | |
Romanian | radon. (various references) | |
Russian | радон (niton). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | radon. (various references) | |
Spanish | radón (radium emanation). (various references) | |
Swedish | radon (niton). (various references) | |
Ukranian | радон. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "radon": radons. (additional references) | |
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"Radon" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: addon, Adon, Ardon, Ardoz, Bradon, Eadon, Frandon, Graddon, Iridon, rabon, Raboni, radah, Radaune, Radbod, radcot, Raddon, raden, radens, radin, radion, Radko, rado, Radom, Radonezh, rador, radoz, radu, rafo, rahong, raiden, raidion, raidon, raion, ramon, randan, randon, ranon, raon, rapon, rarden, ratron, ratson, ravon, Ravony, Rawden, raxon, Rayden, raydon, Razdow, razon, readen, redin, redon, redown, redun, Reidunn, rewon, Reydon, Riddo, riton, Roddon, rodin, Rodion, Rowdon, Rudko, Rydon. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "radon" (pronounced rā"dÄ'n) |
| 3 | -d Ä' n | celadon. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: adorn. | |
| Words within the letters "a-d-n-o-r" | |
-1 letter: darn, dona, nard, orad, rand, road, roan. | |
-2 letters: ado, and, don, dor, nod, nor, oar, ora, rad, ran, rod. | |
-3 letters: ad, an, ar, do, na, no, od, on, or. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-d-n-o-r" | |
+1 letter: adorns, around, candor, dragon, hadron, inroad, jordan, ladron, lardon, onward, ordain, pardon, radons, random, roband, rodman. | |
+2 letters: adjourn, adoring, adorned, adorner, aground, andiron, android, aneroid, aproned, bandora, bandore, bodhran, bradoon, broaden, caldron, candors, candour, cardoon, diatron, donator, doorman, dormant, dragons, dragoon, gadroon, goldarn, gormand, groaned, hadrons, inboard, inroads, jordans, ladrone, ladrons, lardons, lardoon, madrona, madrone, madrono, monarda, mordant, nodular, norland, odorant, onboard, onwards, operand, ordains, ordinal, organdy, padrone, padroni, pandoor, pandora, pandore, pandour, pardons, poniard, proband, randoms, readorn, robands, rodsman, rondeau, rotunda, sadiron, tandoor, tardyon, tornado, troland. | |
+3 letters: acrodont, adjourns, adorners, adorning, aerodyne, airbound, anchored, andirons, androgen, androids, aneroids, antidora, arointed, aroynted, attorned, banderol, bandoras, bandores, baudrons, boarding, boardman, boardmen, bodhrans, boneyard, boundary, braconid, bradoons, broadens, browband, caldrons, cancroid, candours, cardamon, cardoons, cartoned, cauldron, chaldron, chlordan, colander, condylar, conelrad, cordovan, cordwain, crayoned, cropland, crunodal, danewort, deaconry, debonair, demeanor, diatrons, dinosaur, dognaper, donators, doornail, dormancy, downward, draconic, dragoman, dragomen, dragonet, dragoons, drawdown, duration, dynatron, enamored, endeavor, endocarp, endosarc, expandor, forehand, foreland, forzando, fricando, gadroons, goldarns, gormands, gourmand, grandson, hadronic, handover, handwork, hardnose, hoarding, honorand, inboards, intrados, ironclad, jargoned, ladrones, landform, landlord, lardoons, largando, loanword, madronas, madrones, madronos, mandator, markdown, marooned, monandry, monardas, moonward, moorland, mordancy, mordants, narrowed, nonbrand, nondairy, nonhardy, nonrated, norlands, normande, odorants, oleander, ondogram, operands, ordained, ordainer, ordinals, ordinand, ordinary, ordinate, ordnance, organdie, orphaned, outdrank, outdrawn, overhand, overland, padrones, pandoors, pandoras, pandores, pandours, paranoid, pardoned, pardoner, parlando, pauldron, pomander, poniards, probands, profaned, pronated, pyranoid, quadroon, radioing, radioman, radiomen, raindrop, rancored, randomly, ransomed, rationed, ratooned, rawboned, readorns, reasoned, reloaned, renegado, reordain, rhodamin, rigadoon, rigaudon, romanced, rondeaux, rotundas, sadirons, sandworm, sandwort, sardonic, sardonyx, solander, squadron, swordman, tandoori, tandoors, tardyons, teardown, tornadic, tornados, trinodal, trolands, unloader, untoward, wanderoo. | |
+4 letters: abandoner, absconder, accordant, according, accordion, acrodonts, adjourned, adoration, adoringly, adornment, adsorbent, adsorbing, aerodynes, affording, affronted, androecia, androgens, androgyne, androgyny, andromeda, anhydrous, arachnoid, arytenoid, banderole, banderols, bandoleer, bandolier, begroaned, boardings, bombardon, boneyards, braconids, breakdown, broadband, broadened, broadness, brocading, browbands, cancroids, carbonade, carbonado, carcinoid, cardamons, carronade, cartooned, cauldrons, chaldrons, chancroid, chlordane, chlordans, clangored, clarioned, coarsened, colanders, commander, communard, concordat, conelrads, cordovans, cordwains, coriander, cornbread, coronated, corrading, crackdown, creodonta, croplands, damnatory, daneworts, dangerous, davenport, demeanors, demeanour, deodorant, detonator, diachrony, dichondra, dinosaurs, doctrinal, dogearing, dognapers, dognapper, dominator, doornails, downdraft, downgrade, downrange, downwards, draconian, dragomans, dragonets, dragonfly, dragonish, dragooned, drawdowns, drawnwork, durations, dynamotor, dynatrons, ealdorman, ealdormen, enamoured, endeavors, endeavour, endocarps, endosarcs, expandors, farandole, forehands, forelands, forenamed, forzandos, frontward, gadrooned, girandole, godparent, goosander, gourmands, gradation, grandiose, grandioso, grandsons, granitoid, handiwork, handovers, handsomer, handworks, handwrote, hardbound, hardnoses, harpooned, hoardings, hoarsened, holandric, honorands, hydration, hydrozoan, indagator, indicator, inundator, ironclads, jaborandi, landforms, landlords, landowner, loanwords, lowlander, mandators, mandatory, markdowns, meandrous, memoranda, monodrama, moorlands, mordanted, mordantly, nondancer, nondollar, nongraded, nonrandom, nonreader, northland, northward, noseguard, notarized, oleanders, ondograms, orangeade, ordainers, ordaining, ordinance, ordinands, ordinates, ordnances, organdies, organised, organized, outdaring, outearned, outlander, outranged, outranked, overdrank, overdrawn, overhands, overladen, overlands, paragoned, paranoids, pardoners, pardoning, parodying, pauldrons, pinafored, polyandry, pomanders, ponderosa, poniarded, predation, preordain, promenade, quadroons, radiation, raindrops, randomize, rattooned, readorned, redaction, reloading, renegados, renovated, reordains, resonated, rhodamine, rhodamins, rigadoons, rigaudons, romanised, romanized, roundelay, roundsman, runaround, sandstorm, sandworms, sandworts, sangfroid, secondary, sforzandi, sforzando, shorthand, signboard, snowboard, solanders, squadrons, swordsman, tandooris, teardowns, tornadoes, tradition, trainload, unadorned, unarmored, undercoat, unloaders, wanderoos. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)52 61 64 6F 6E |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references).-. .- -.. --- -. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01010010 01100001 01100100 01101111 01101110 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)R a d o n |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0052 0061 0064 006F 006E |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)5267708180 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Usage Frequency 7. Names: Frequency 8. Expressions | 9. Expressions: Internet 10. Translations: Modern 11. Derivations 12. Rhymes | 13. Anagrams 14. Orthography 15. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
