a colorless and odorless inert gas; one of the six inert gases; comprises approximately 1% of the earth's atmosphere
"The technician flushed the vacuum chamber with argon to prevent any reactive chemicals from forming during the delicate welding process."
The chemical element (symbol Ar) with an atomic number of 18. The third most abundant gas in the Earth's atmosphere, it is a colourless, odourless, inert noble gas.
"Scientists flushed the lightbulbs with argon to prevent the tungsten filaments from oxidizing and burning out quickly."
The name comes from the Ancient Greek word argós, meaning "idle" or "lazy," which describes the element's chemical inertness. The suffix -on was added to follow the naming convention for other noble gases.