noble gas
- noun
- /ˈnoʊbəl ɡæs/
- Specialized
- Krypton is a type of noble gas that is commonly used in lighting applications.
But Mendeleev's table didn't include the group of elements we now call the noble gases, or even a gap for them.
- But Mendeleev's table didn't include the group of elements we now call the noble gases, or even a gap for them.
- I suppose instead of a vacuum you could replace the air inside the fuse container with some non conductive noble gas like argon.
Examples
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Since detection limits for all elements (with the exception of the hard-to-ionize noble gases) are around a few parts per billion, SIMS constitutes an extremely sensitive indicator of sample chemistry.
Academic text (1998) -
That substitution allows a higher pumping speed for pumping noble gases (mainly argon and helium).
Academic text (2002) -
These beings are very small, and each is composed of a single noble gas.
Fiction book (2001) -
Noble gases are chemically inert.
Academic text (2013) -
Measurements of noble gases in samples of surface material returned from the Moon suggest that the solar wind was roughly an order of magnitude larger over the past three billion years.
Academic text (2006) -
His work focuses on measuring noble gases in rocks, and that is precisely what he hopes to help the MSL team do on Mars.
Blog text (25) -
Dry basis: carbon dioxide twenty percent, nitrogen seventy-eight, remainder methane, traces of the noble gases.
Fiction book (1999) -
Now that the Finns have succeeded in making argon fluorohydride, there are only two of the noble gases left to crack: neon and helium.
Fiction book (2001) -
The triode model, different both electrically and physically from the others, allows high speed and stability when pumping getterable and noble gases, even at relatively high pressures.
Academic text (2002) -
Helium and neon are two of the most well-known noble gases that do not react with other elements.
Synonyms
A gas that makes bright red light in electric signs
A very light, colorless gas that people use to fill balloons and for science
A colorless, odorless gas in the air that does not react with other elements
A gas that does not react with other substances, like helium or argon
A very light colorless gas used to fill balloons and cool scientific equipment
Surface Forms
Morphology
The element 'gas' is transparent, but the adjective 'noble' requires a specialized chemical sense (meaning chemically inert) that many B1 learners will not have; taken together the compound logically denotes an inert/unchanging gas, yet understanding this depends on domain knowledge of 'noble' in chemistry. Because the composition is interpretable if the chemical sense of 'noble' is known but not otherwise, the expression is partially but not fully predictable to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Noble gas may come from a simple picture: a noble person who keeps to themselves and does not mix with others, and the gases behave the same. So, noble gas means a gas that 'does not react' easily with other elements.