neon.html

Neon:

Ne; at. wt. 20.179; at. no. 10; Three stable isotopes: 20 (90.92%); 21 (0.26%); 22 (8.82%); artificial, short-lived isotopes: 17-19, 23; 24. Abundance in earth's crust including the atmosphere 5 x 10^-7; concentration in air: 18.2 ppm by vol. An element of the group 0; discovered in 1898 by Ramsay and Travers: Travers, The Discovery of the Rare Gases, London, 1928. Monograph: Argon, Helium and the Rare Gases, vol. 1, 2, G. A. Cook, Ed. (Interscience, New York, 1961) 818 pp; Cockett, Smith, "The Monatomic Gases" in Comprehensive Inorganic Chemistry vol. 1, J.C. Bailar, Jr. et al., Eds. (Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1973) pp 139-211.

Inert, odorless gas; does not condense at the temp of liq air; solid at the temp of liq hydrogen; the solid form, face-centered cubic crystals. d⁰ (gas) 0.89994 g/l; d (liq at bp): 1.207 g/cc. bp - 246.08°; crit temp -228.7°; crit pressure 26.9 atm.

USE: In neon light tubes; ingredient of gaseous fillers for antifog devices, warning signals, electrical current detectors, high-voltage indicators for high-tension electric lines, lightning arresters, wave-meter tubes; in lasers.