The TikTok Addicts of the Periodic Table

 

    We’ve all seen that person before, right? The one kid at the back of the class who’s always on their phone? Maybe they’re “texting their mom,” or “just checking something real quick,” but even the fastest glance at their face will expose that as a lie almost as believable as their desperate claims to have left last class’ homework at home. No, their faces are illuminated by flashing neon colors as they lose whatever remains of their brain to relentless torrents of images, sounds, and 15 second videos. You’d definitely seen them before and you should’ve just ignored them and proceed with your work as usual. Despite this, your teacher assigned group projects and unfortunately, you got the guy with the brain smoother than a baby’s bottom for a partner. No matter how much you try to get through to them, the best response you can get out of them is a “yeah…” or “uh huh,” as they barely pay you any mind, condemning you to carry a project worth 50% of your overall grade by yourself.

    Please do everything you can to prevent yourself from being this person, because this person is a lot like element 18, Argon, the complete opposite of our last topic of discussion, Fluorine. See, Fluorine was a halogen, which made it extremely reactive, since it had 7 valence electrons. However, Argon is a noble gas, which gives it a complete 8 valence electrons (a full valence shell), which makes it extremely unreactive. In fact, it is so unreactive that the element’s name is derived from the Greek argos (ἀργός), which literally translates to “inactive.”

    As if Argon couldn’t get any more boring, it’s colorless, odorless, tasteless, and one of the most common gases in the atmosphere. Quite frankly, even as a chemistry enthusiast, I don’t think I would recognize Argon if it punched me in the gut. Trust me when I say that the keen observation skills of Lord Rayleigh in noticing a discrepancy in the density of nitrogen are quite literally the only reason it’s on the periodic table.

    So why is Argon important? Simply put, just like a kid addicted to their phone can make a social setting awkward, Argon can make a space inert, which is valuable in laboratory settings, where violent reactions are not wanted. It’s famously used for welding as well.

Opeyemi J., 11th Grade