Why is argon a good gas to use in light bulbs?

Answer 1

Light bulbs are filled with argon AND nitrogen because they don't burn up the light bulb as quickly. It take a high tempertaure in a light bulb to create the light. The heat in the light bulb then causes chemical reactions. If there was just air in a light bulb, then the element would quickly react with the oxidize (oxygen) and burn out the light bulb. Now, with the light bulb filled with argon and some nitrogen because in the high temperature, the chemical reacts with these elements much more slowly, therefore keeping the light bulb lit longer.
Incandescent light bulbs heat a tungsten filament to extremely high temperatures. At such temperatures ordinary air would rapidly oxidize the filament and the bulb would burn out in seconds. Instead the bulbs are filled with argon, which is inert and will not react with the tungsten under any conditions.
Argon is frequently used when an inert atmosphere is needed. It is used to fill incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs to prevent oxygen from corroding the hot filament. Argon is also used to form inert atmospheres for arc welding, growing semiconductor crystals and processes that require shielding from other atmospheric gases.
Because a radioactive form of argon is produced by decay of a naturally occurring radioactive potassium isotope.
It is an inert gas and so completely inactive to heat. As a result it does not change into any other compound or burn in the presence of excessive heat produced in the light bulb due to passage of current through tungsten wire.
Argon is a noble gas, which means it is inert (unreactive). Air however contains around 20% oxygen. If the bulb is filled with air, the atmospheric oxygen will oxidise the filament. this then cause it to not shine so brightly/not shine. The oxygen can also cause the filament to burn, making the bulb dangerous. Therefore, Argon provides an inert atmosphere to prevent the above from happening.

If I remember correctly, if air was used, the filament would burn extremely fast, only giving about three seconds of light before the filament is completely burnt up (or all the oxygen in the bulb has oxidized).

Quick experiment: Attach a wire to the positive and negative sides of a large flashlight battery (the large rectangular ones with the two coils coming from the top... I can't think of the proper size). Attach the back of one alligator clip to the open end of each wire (so the clip part is not clipped on the wire). String out some steel wool until you have a single strand (or two or three wound together). This essentially is a light bulb filament. Clip it into the two alligator clips and watch how fast it burns.

Answer 2

• Argon is a noble gas meaning it can't chemically bond with anything else. Using air will instantly burn the filament.
• Also, argon has a full outer shell (8 electrons) meaning it is unreactive.

Answer 3

Air - the kind we breathe - contains oxygen. oxygen can sustain combustion. A filament heated to glowing in an oxygen atmosphere would burn up.

Argon - and some other noble gases - don't sustain combustion, so won't make the glowing filament burn.

Answer 4

Argon is an inert gas that will not oxidize the filament even at extremely high tempt.

Answer 5

because it has an electronic configuration of 1s2 2s2 2p6 and has a full outer shel of electrons and does not form an ion