Which of These are NOT Noble Gases? Quiz

Answer:

The noble gases are located in Group 18 of the periodic table and they are a group of chemical elements that are odorless, colorless, and extremely unreactive. Hopefully, you avoided picking them. Here they are:

Argon (Ar), atomic number 18, is the most abundant of the noble gases on Earth, making up about 0.93% of our atmosphere. It is used in light bulbs to protect the filament.

Helium (He), atomic number 2, is lighter than air, and is used in balloons and also as a coolant for superconducting magnets, for example in MRI machines.

Krypton (Kr), atomic number 36, is used in high-performance light bulbs and photographic flash lamps, some halogen and fluorescent lamps, and airport runway lights.

Neon (Ne), atomic number 10, produces a reddish-orange color when electrified, and is used a lot in advertising signs.

Radon (Rn), atomic number 86, is radioactive and forms naturally when uranium decays, and becomes a dangerous health hazard when it accumulates in buildings.

Xenon (Xe), atomic number 54, is used in specialized flash lamps, arc lamps, High Intensity Discharge car headlights, and even as an general anesthetic in some countries.

And, as mentioned, the synthetic element Oganesson (Og), atomic number 118, is also highly radioactive, and was first created in 2002, made by bombarding californium-249 with calcium-48 ions. It is named after the physicist Yuri Oganessian.

The following choices are the ones you were looking for, the substances that are NOT noble gases:

Ammonia (NH3). Noble gases consist of only one type of atom, but ammonia is made up of nitrogen and hydrogen atoms chemically bonded together. Noble gases are elements, and so ammonia is not an element, but is instead a molecule created by combining elements, in this case nitrogen and hydrogen.

Boron (B), atomic number 5, is in Group 13 of the elements, while noble gases are in Group 18. Boron, with only three electrons, has an incomplete outer electron shell, whereas noble gases have a completely full valence shell. It is not possible for a noble gas in its ground state to have an odd number of electrons since the stability that defines a noble gas is linked to having an even number of electrons, which results from completely filled electron orbitals. Also, Boron is a solid metalloid, not a gas.

Bromine (Br), atomic number 25, is a member of the halogen family (Group 17) on the periodic table. It has 7 electrons in its outer shell, therefore having an incomplete outer shell. This makes bromine highly reactive since it seeks to have that one more electron for 8, and a stable outer shell. Bromine is also one of only two elements on the periodic table that is a liquid at standard room temperature (the other being mercury).

Chlorine (Cl), atomic number 17, is, like bromine, a member of the halogen family (Group 17) on the periodic table. This yellowish-green gas has a choking smell and is highly toxic, having been used as a toxic weapon during World War I. With 7 outer shell electrons, it has an incomplete outer shell, and is thus a reactive element. It also has diatomic molecules compared to the monatomic single atoms of noble gases.

Fluorine (F), atomic number 9, is the first and most reactive member of the halogen family (Group 17). The pale yellow, highly reactive diatomic gas, and the most electronegative element. Its 7 electrons in the outer shell render it incomplete. Whereas noble gases rarely form compounds, fluorine forms compounds with almost everything, including noble gases.

Hydrogen (H), atomic number 1, has a simple electron configuration that gives it a dual profile that doesn't fit neatly into any single group. Hydrogen forms covalent bonds by sharing its one and only electron with other atoms, creating molecules like H2O (water) and CH4 (methane). Noble gases are not so eager to form compounds.

Methane (CH4) is not a noble gas-it is a compound that forms chemical bonds, while noble gases are single atoms that are already chemically stable and are not prone to bonding with other elements.

Nitrogen (N), atomic number 7, is in group 15, known as the pnictogens (5 valence electrons in their outer shell), so nitrogen has an incomplete outer shell. It has different typical bonding patterns (very diverse as opposed to noble gases) and different oxidation states from noble gases as well.

Oxygen (O), atomic number 8, belongs to Group 16 (the chalcogens), which have 6 valence electrons. It's highly reactive, forming strong bonds as a diatomic gas with other elements-exactly the opposite of noble gas behavior.

Zircon is not a noble gas because it is a solid mineral with the chemical formula zirconium silicate (ZrSiO4) containing the elements zirconium, silicon and oxygen.