Neon: The Element

The element neon is found in a gaseous form. Though it is a rare element on the Earth, it is quite abundant in the universe. It comes fifth among the most abundant elements of the universe. It is less available on our planet owing to its light weight and inert chemical nature. It is found in the Earth's atmosphere in a trace amount. Volcanic gases are rich in neon content.

Neon is a Greek word which means new one. It was Scottish chemist Sir William Ramsay and English chemist Morris W. Travers who discovered neon in 1898. Ramsay cooled down a sample of air to such a low temperature that it became liquid. The liquid obtained was boiled and the gases that were released as a result of this boiling were collected. There were three different gases. One of them was neon, the other two were krypton and xenon. Commercially, neon is obtained from the air. For industrial purposes, neon is produced by fractional distillation of liquid air through the cryogenic method.

Properties of Neon

The atomic number of neon is 10 and its chemical symbol is Ne. Under normal conditions, neon is a monatomic element. Neon is one of the lightest of all the noble gases and is a colorless substance. Liquid range (the temperature at which a gas remains in liquid form) of neon is the narrowest of all elements. The refrigerating capacity of neon is about forty times more than that of liquid helium and three times more than liquid hydrogen.

Neon belongs to the p-block of the periodic table and it is the first noble gas of the block. Neon is considered to be a chemically inert substance. Chemical reactivity of neon is the least among the noble gases, hence it can be said that it is the most inactive element. So far, there are no known compounds of neon that have been found, and even neutral compounds are also not available. However, presence of some ions like Ne⁺, (NeH)⁺, (HeNe⁺) etc, have been found during studies of optical and mass spectrometry. Also, some unconfirmed reports are there about existence of an unstable hydrate of neon.

Uses of Neon

The element neon is used in several ways. It has usage in vacuum tubes, wave meter tubes, television tubes, high-voltage indicators and lightning arrestors. Neon is also used along with helium for the purpose of making gas lasers. Neon has a distinguishing reddish-orange color glow when it is used in lamps or discharge tubes. Commonly used neon lights have two different varieties. One is the glow-discharge lamps which are small in size and can operate at low voltage. This lamp are popularly used in circuit-testing equipments and power-on indicators. The other one can operate at a very high voltage and is most widely used in advertising signs. Another important application of neon is as a cryogenic refrigerant. Commercially, it is a more popular refrigerant as it is less expensive as compared to helium.

As mentioned above, Neon is an important element that is used in many appliances that are useful to us. Neon in a liquefied form is very expensive, hence it is difficult to obtain it in small quantity for use in the laboratory tests. The triple point temperature of neon (the temperature at which all three phases, solid, liquid and gaseous of neon co-exist) has a defining fixed point, and is employed in the International Temperature Scale of 1990.