54. Xenon

Name: Xenon
Symbol: Xe
Atomic Number: 54
Atomic Mass: 131.29 amu
Melting Point: -111.9 °C (161.25 °K, -169.42 °F)
Boiling Point: -108.1 °C (165.05 °K, -162.58 °F)
Number of Protons/Electrons: 54
Number of Neutrons: 77
Classification: Noble Gas
Crystal Structure: Cubic
Density(293 K): 5.8971 g/cm3
Color: Colorless Gas

Xenon is a "noble" or "inert" gas present in the atmosphere to a small extent. Xenon is present in the Martian atmosphere to the extent of about 0.08 ppm. Before 1962, it was generally assumed that xenon and other noble gases were unable to form compounds. Among the compounds of xenon now reported are xenon hydrate, sodium perxenate, xenon deuterate, difluoride, tetrafluoride, hexafluoride, and XePtF6 and XeRhF6. The highly explosive xenon trioxide, XeO3, is known.

Metallic xenon is produced by applying several hundred kilobars of pressure. Xenon in a vacuum tube produces a blue glow when excited by an electrical discharge and finds use in strobe lamps. It is an odourless, colourless, inert gas.

Xenon (Greek xenon meaning "stranger") was discovered in England by William Ramsay and Morris Travers in 1898 in the residue left over from evaporating components of liquid air.

The gas can be safely kept in normal sealed glass containers at standard temperature and pressure. Xenon is non-toxic, but many of its compounds are toxic due to their strong oxidative properties.

Quick links

Non-metals H, C, N, O, P, S, Se
Halogens F, Cl, Br, I, At
Alkali metals Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, Fr
Alkaline Earth Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Ra
Transition metals Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Tc, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Cd, Hf, Ta, W, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, Au, Hg, Rf, Db, Sg, Bh, Hs, Mt, Ds, Rg, Uub
Metalloids B, Si, Ge, As, Sb, Te, Po
Other metals Al, Ga, In, Sn, Tl, Pb, Bi
Rare Earth Lu, Lr, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Ac, Th, Pa, U, Np, Pu, Am, Cm, Bk, Cf, Es, Fm, Md, No
Noble gases He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, Rn

Back to table

Another interactive table of elements

Quantum physics

Quantum fields