: a colorless odorless inert gaseous element found in the air and in volcanic gases and used especially in welding, lasers, and electric bulbs see Chemical Elements Table
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebOthers are working with plasma reactors, which use water, electricity, and argon gas to break down PFAS. A. Daniel Jones And Hui Li, Ars Technica, 19 Aug. 2022 The TiCl4 then must be vacuum distilled to purify it, and the vapor is fed into a reaction vessel containing molten magnesium blanketed in inert argon gas and heated to 800 - 1000ºC for about two days. Willy Shih, Forbes, 10 July 2022 Inside, the atmosphere is mainly argon, the least reactive of gases, reducing the chance of impurities that cause defects in a part.New York Times, 3 July 2022 To screen out ambient particles, the entire setup is immersed in a cryogenic tank shielded by water and liquid argon. Joanna Thompson, Scientific American, 1 July 2022 Detectors filled with liquid argon can also track the paths of particles far more precisely than those containing water. Thomas Lewton, Scientific American, 13 Apr. 2022 When a neutrino is absorbed by an atom of chlorine, an atom of the radioactive isotope argon 37 is formed. Mark Fischetti, Scientific American, 14 May 2022 The motivations were much the same for Japan’s competing neutrino experiment Hyper-K— an even bigger underground chamber that is filled with water instead of DUNE’s liquid argon. Thomas Lewton, Scientific American, 13 Apr. 2022 The grains of sand were heated with a laser, and the researchers measured the release of argon gas, which is produced from the decay of the rare but naturally occurring radioactive isotope of potassium, known as K-40. Katie Hunt, CNN, 9 Mar. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Greek, neuter of argos idle, lazy, from a- + ergon work; from its relative inertness — more at work