By: Morgan Fouts
Mikael Vanhoose
McKenna Metsker
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Discovered by Sir William Ramsay (Scottish
chemist) and Morris M. Travers (English chemist)
They had been experimenting with liquid air at
University College London
 They had already extracted other elements from
liquid air such as Neon and Argon, and were searching
to see if there were any other gases included in the
substance
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That is how they discovered Xenon
Discovered on July 12, 1898
 Xe was believed to be inert (“chemically
inactive”) until 1962 when Neil Bartlett found
that Xe would create a compound with Fluorine
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As of now, more than 100 Xenon compounds have
been made
 The
name “Xenon” originates from the Greek
word “xenos” meaning “stranger”
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They had originally wanted to name this new
element after the brilliant blue color it gave off
in a vacuum tube, which had allowed them to
identify it as a new element, but they found that
any name with Greek or Latin roots indicating
the color blue had already been used by organic
chemists.
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Symbol: Xe
Atomic Number: 54
Atomic Weight: 131.293
Atomic Mass: 131.29 amu
Boiling Point: 163.03 K
Melting Point: 161.36 K
Is a nonmetal
Is a gas at room temperature
Heaviest of the noble gases
Not conductive
Not radioactive
Not flammable or corrosive
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Xenon lamps are used to kill bacteria
When Xe is excited by electricity, it gives off a flash of
white light which is why it is commonly used in strobe
lights
Xe is used to power ruby lasers
Xe ions were used to power an ion engine used on the
space probe Deep Space 1
Newer models of car headlights include Xe (headlights
that give off a bluish light and are incredibly bright)
Xe is used in electrostatic ion thrusters which are used
to propel satellites into space
Used in photographic flashes, high pressure arc lamps
for movies (projectors) and arc lamps for ultraviolet
light
The first solid state laser and first excimer laser
relied on Xenon
 Containers of Xenon may explode when heated
 Xenon reacts with Fluorine to create Tetra
fluoride
 It is colorless unless put in an electric field
electricity
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Xe is the least abundant of all of the noble gases
This causes it to be extremely expensive: a small
balloon full would cost around $65
 April 2010: a baby was born without a pulse and was
not breathing
 The baby was cooled and treated with Xe, which
reduced the release of neurotransmitters, allowing
brain damage to be avoided for the baby
 Video on what happens when Xe is inhaled from a
balloon instead of Helium:
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw8uJ_3yWU8
(Only watch from 1:17-2:30)
 “Categories
You Should Follow." Answers.
Answers Corporation, n.d. Web. 22 Oct.
2014
 "The Element Xenon." It's Elemental -.
N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2014
 "Xenon." - Element Information,
Properties and Uses. N.p., n.d. Web. 20
Oct. 2014
 "Xenon." WebElements Periodic Table of
the Elements. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct.
2014