Discovered in: 1898

Discovered by: Sir William Ramsay and Morris Travers of England

Description: Named from the Greek word meaning "hidden", krypton is a heavy, colorless and odorless gas. Chemists have found more compounds of krypton than the lighter noble gases, especially compounds with fluorine. However, it is still quite unreactive. It has only a few uses. It is sometimes used with argon in lighting fixtures and in flash lamps for high-speed photography. A characteristic of krypton's spectral light defines the length of a meter, the international unit of length.

Biological Rating: No known benefits in life processes.

Biological Benefits: Krypton has no known biological use.

Percentage Amount in the Human Body: 0 %

Obtained from: There are no krypton-bearing minerals. It is obtained from liquefying air, where it occurs about 1 part per million.