People are too familiar with billboards, especially the eye-catching lightings. Thus, where did the reddish orange neon lights come from? Although Neon is a name of gas, it is also known as names of many different types of advertising lighting.
Neon is a kind of gas, its chemical symbol is Ne, its atomic number is 120 and the mass of the atom is 20. In summary, what is neon gas, what are the applications as well as reputable suppliers of this gas?
Let’s find out this information.
What is Neon Gas?
Neon gas is rare, colorless and almost inert. The chemical symbol of Neon on the periodic table is Ne and its atomic number is 10.
Neon emits a red light when applied in vacuum discharge tubes and in neon lights, it is present in the air in very small proportions.
Properties of Neon gas:
Neon gas is rare and light (behind helium only), its cooling competence is 40 times stronger than liquid helium and 3 times stronger than liquid hydrogen (per unit volume).
In most common applications, it is known to be a less expensive refrigerant than helium gas.
Among rare gases, neon gas has the highest discharge intensity at normal voltages and amperages.
Despite being an inert element, this gas can create many compounds with fluorine in the laboratory.
People are uncertain about whether neon compounds are present in nature. But, some evidence suggests that these compounds may be present.
Where is NEON found?
In Greek, Neon is called: neos, meaning “new”. It was discovered by William Ramsay and Morris Travers in 1898. Currently, Neon gas is found in extremely small amounts on Earth, so it is classified as a rare gas:
- There is 18ppm of Neon gas in the air.
- Seawater also contains 0.2 ppm of Neon.
- There is 70ppt Neon gas inside the Earth’s crust.
/Neon has 3 natural isotopes: neon-20 (90.5%), neon-21 (0.3%), and neon-22 (9.2%).
Neon is found mostly in gaseous form with only 1 atom consisted in a gas molecule. It is considered as a rare gas because it is only found in the Earth’s atmosphere at a microscopic scale 1/65,000.
Pure neon gas is produced by partial distillation from super-cold or liquid air.
