Neon+Wade+Scanlan



Neon is a very interesting element. Neon's atomic number is 10 and its chemical symbol is Ne. Neon's atomic weight is 20.180. Neon comes from the Greek word noes which means new. Neon is a noble gas, so it is very nonreactive. So much so that it only forms one compound with fluorine.

Neon was discovered in 1898 by two men named William Ramsay and Morris Travers. They suspected that there was a missing element in the noble gases and were so intrigued they started doing research.Each had discovered helium and argon before their discovery of neon.The two discovered neon because of their earlier experiments. Ramsay and Travers knew that sometime already discovered elements could hide new, undiscovered elements. Ramsey thought there might be a new element in his discovery of argon. They froze a sample a argon and then evaporated it with reduced pressure. They took the vapor gas from the argon and charged it with a high voltage. This resulted in a bright red light coming from the gas and the discovery of the element neon. This is known as fractional distillation. Because of this experiment, we now have the colorless and odorless gas commonly used in advertising. But what else can Neon be used for?

Neon has so many different uses other than for advertising. As we learn more about science, I expect that we will use this element more and more. Neon has been used to make high-voltage indicators and lighting arrestors. Some other common uses of neon are wave meter tubes and television tubes. Liquid neon is now being used as a cryogenic refrigerant since it has over forty times more refrigerating capacity per uni volume than liquid helium. It is more than three times that for liquid hydrogen.

Although neon is the fourth most abundant element in the universe, only 0.0018% of the earth's atmosphere is neon. So where else is neon located? Neon is scattered all across time and space. The reactions of carbon and oxygen between stars has been known to release neon. Some of the stars explode, which releases huge amounts of gas, creating the neon in our universe.

Neon is by far one of the most interesting elements in my opinion. From the time it was discovered, neon has been evolving, becoming a more and more useful tool in the world around us. Being more abundant in space, as we are able to travel farther throughout the worlds, neon will shine bright around us. Neon completely lives up to its name, giving us new uses for it everyday. Just take a minute to look up and see the brightness of neon around you.



Neon used in advertising. A diagram of Neon

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Citation: Gagnon, Steve. "The Element Neon." //Jeferson Lab//. N.p.. Web. 19 Sep 2013. . Hammond, C.R. //The Elements//. Web. . Kaye, G. W. C., and T. H. Laby. "Neon." //RSC//. N.p.. Web. 20 Sep 2013. . "Neon." //Nautilus//. N.p.. Web. 22 Sep 2013. .

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