Neon (Ne), chemical element, inert gas of Group 18 (noble gases) of the periodic table, used in electric signs and fluorescent lamps. Colourless, odourless, tasteless, and lighter than air, neon gas occurs in minute quantities in Earth’s atmosphere and trapped within the rocks of Earth’s crust. Though neon is about 31/2 times as plentiful as helium in the atmosphere, dry air contains only 0.0018 percent neon by volume. This element is more abundant in the cosmos than on Earth. Neon liquefies at −246.048 °C (−411 °F) and freezes at a temperature only 21/2° lower. When under low pressure, it emits a bright orange-red light if an electrical current is passed through it. This property is utilized in neon signs (which first became familiar in the 1920s), in some fluorescent and gaseous conduction lamps, and in high-voltage testers. The name neon is derived from the Greek word neos, “new.” Continue reading from Encyclopedia Britannica
Chemists William Ramsay of Scotland and Morris Travers of England discovered neon in 1898, according to Chemicool. Ramsay had previously discovered argon in 1894 and was the first to isolate helium in 1895. From those elements' places on the Periodic Table, he deduced that there was a yet unknown element between the two noble gases.
Ramsay and Travers eventually discovered neon, as well as krypton and xenon, in an argon sample. The chemists froze the argon using liquid air, and then evaporated the argon and collected the gas that came off. They ran a high voltage through the first sample of the gas they had collected and surprisingly found that the tube with the glass glowed a bright crimson, according to Chemicool. Continue reading from LiveScience
