XENON
from the Greek word "xenos", meaning "stranger"
Discovered by Ramsay and Travers in 1898 in the residue left after evaporating liquid air components
Xenon Model
Atomic Number 54
Atomic Mass 131.30
Common Isotopes Xe124, Xe126, Xe128, Xe129, Xe130, Xe131, Xe132, Xe134, Xe136
Ground State Electron Configuration 1s22s22p63s23p64s23d104p65s24d105p6
Common Oxidation States 2, 4, 6, 8
Physical Appearance colorless, odorless, tasteless monatomic gas
Physical Properties
melting point 161.1 K
boiling point 165.9 K
crystal structure cubic closest packed
density 5.887 g/l
Electronegativity 2.6
Source extracted from liquid oxygen, in gases from mineral springs, in atmosphere in very minute quantities
Price per gram $20 / liter
Uses electron tubes, stroboscopic lamps, bactericidal lamps, and lamps used to excite ruby lasers for generating coherent light, used in the atomic energy field in bubble chambers, probes, and other applications where its high molecular weight is of value, potentially useful as a gas for ion engines
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