Xenon is often a chemical element with symbol Xe and atomic number 54. It's really a colorless, dense, odorless noble gas present in the Earth's ambiance in trace quantities.
During the 1930s, American engineer Harold Edgerton began exploring strobe light know-how for high velocity images. This led him to the creation of your xenon flash lamp where light is generated by passing quick electric powered current through a tube filled with xenon fuel.
So car headlamps, propelling satellites and preserving the lives of toddlers. Which was Cambridge University's Pete Wothers with the Bizarre and varied chemistry of xenon. Now subsequent 7 days, chemistry in the article Business office.
FunKids radio, in collaboration Along with the RSC, has made a list of quick chemistry snippets introducing small children to chemistry- the what, why And the way. Predicting the melting temperature of carbon  Description :
The next calendar year, Ramsay verified the presence in selected radioactive rocks of your lightest member of the group, helium, trapped as it absolutely was formed through the alpha-particle emission from features for instance uranium.
Xenon is utilised like a "starter gas" in substantial tension sodium lamps. It has the lowest thermal conductivity and lowest ionization likely of every one of the non-radioactive noble gases. Being a noble gas, it does not interfere Along with the chemical reactions transpiring inside the operating lamp.
He could in no way have foreseen that his discovery would someday be accustomed to gentle our streets during the night time, picture the workings of the residing lung, or propel spaceships.
Liquid xenon is Employed in calorimeters[171] to evaluate gamma rays, and for a detector of hypothetical weakly interacting significant particles, or WIMPs. Any time a WIMP collides that has a xenon nucleus, principle predicts it is going to impart ample Vitality to trigger ionization and scintillation.
Chemically, the perxenate compounds are utilized as oxidizing agents in analytical chemistry. Xenon difluoride is utilized as an etchant for silicon, particularly in the creation of microelectromechanical units (MEMS).[174] The anticancer drug five-fluorouracil may be made by reacting xenon difluoride with uracil.
Nuclei of two with the steady isotopes of xenon, 129Xe and 131Xe, have non-zero intrinsic angular momenta (nuclear spins, ideal for nuclear magnetic resonance). The nuclear spins can be aligned outside of normal polarization concentrations via circularly polarized light and rubidium vapor.[seventy two] The resulting spin polarization of xenon nuclei can surpass 50% of its most attainable value, enormously exceeding the thermal equilibrium value dictated by paramagnetic statistics (ordinarily 0.
The individual cells in a very plasma display more info incorporate a combination of xenon and neon ionized with electrodes. The interaction of the plasma With all the electrodes generates ultraviolet photons, which then excite the phosphor coating over the front on the display.[127][128]
On the other hand, nuclear spins on good surfaces may be selectively polarized by transferring spin polarization to them from hyperpolarized xenon gas. This can make the floor indicators potent sufficient to measure and distinguish from bulk signals.[166][167] Other[edit]
Wish to thank TFD for its existence? Convey to an acquaintance about us, add a hyperlink to this page, or visit the webmaster's site without spending a dime entertaining content.
086 components for every million by volume. It will also be found in the gases that evolve from selected mineral springs. It really is received commercially by extraction from liquid air. Â Enable textual content not accessible for this area at this time History Background Factors and Periodic Table Historical past