Neon is a colorless, tasteless, and odorless gas. Its symbol is Ne, and its atomic number is 10. Neon’s position on the periodic table is group 8; period 2. The gas’s melting point is -248.59 degrees C and boiling point is -246.08 degrees C. The atomic mass of Neon is 20.179. Neon occurs naturally in our atmosphere, as does nitrogen, oxygen and argon. However, with these three elements making up approximately 99.966 percent of air, neon only accounts for 0.0182 percent.

Neon is obtained from the air during fractional distillation (Newton, 355). The first step in this process is to change containers of air to liquid. The liquid air is then

Experiments show that neon is potentially useful in special breathing mixtures for deep-sea diving and space travel. Neon’s properties are similar to those of helium, however, neon doesn’t warp the voice. Also, neon has lower thermal conductivity, which decreases the diver’s heat loss to the surrounding water (Thomas, 3055).

heated. As it heats, each element in the air is changed from a liquid back to a gas at a different temperature. Neon is the portion of air that changes to gas at -245.92 degrees C.

In 1898, neon was discovered by two British chemists- William Ramsay (1852-1916) and Morris Travers (1872-1961). Ramsay eventually found that the nitrogen extracted from chemical reactions was pure, but nitrogen attained from the air had small quantities of unknown gas(Smith, 703). Ramsay and Travers were studying the tiny amount of gas that remained in the air after oxygen, nitrogen, and argon had been removed, and discovered a fourth gas.

In the noble gases group, there are 6 rare gas elements that are found in small amounts in the air. They include helium(He), neon(Ne), argon(Ar), krypton(Kr), xenon(Xe), and radon(Rn) . They all possess similar properties: colorless, odorless, tasteless. These 6 gases are known as monatomic gases. This simply means that they exist as individual atoms. Combined, they make up roughly one percent of the atmosphere (Thomas, 3054). Helium, neon, and argon do not mix with any other atoms to form compounds. The lack of reactivity in these rare gases is due to their electron arrangement. It has been found that the noble gases are harmless to the environment or living organisms. The one exception is radon, as it is radioactive.

Most of the noble gases have been uncovered in minerals and meteorites, but are seldom found there (Smith, np). Even stars much larger than the sun produce neon (Neon, Encarta). They are more commonly found in the atmosphere.

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