Xenon (Xe)

Xenon is a dense, colorless, odorless noble gas found in Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts.

Core Principles & Analysis

• William Ramsay and Morris Travers discovered xenon in 1898 by fractionally distilling liquefied air.
• In 1962 Neil Bartlett used xenon to make the first true noble-gas compound, overturning the belief that these gases were completely inert.
• Xenon fills high-intensity arc lamps and camera flashes, serves as a surgical anesthetic, and is a common propellant in spacecraft ion thrusters.

Specifications & Metrics

• NUM: 54
• SYMBOL: Xe
• CATEGORY: Noble Gas