Neon is a chemical element that has the symbol Ne and atomic number 10. Like other noble gases, such as helium, argon, krypton, and xenon, neon is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and non-reactive.
It is a minor component of Earth’s atmosphere, making up only 1 part in 65,000 parts of air, and it can also be found in rocks. Two British chemists, William Ramsay and Morris Travers, discovered it in 1898. They named it after the Greek word for new, neos.
Unlike other noble gasses, neon cannot bond with other elements to form molecules, but it can form excited dimers, called excimers, with short-lived bonds between atoms that have the full octet of electrons. These excited dimers can be reverted to their non-excited state by the application of an electric field. Neon is a relatively rare gas on Earth, but it’s much more abundant in the planet-forming disks around young stars. It is also used as a light source in some high voltage indicators, lasers, and other devices. When liquefied, neon is an important cryogenic refrigerant, because it has more than 40 times the refrigerating capacity of liquid helium and three times that of liquid hydrogen.
A classic neon sign consists of two glass tubes that are painted with covering colors. Inside the tube is a filament that emits a yellowish-orange glow when electricity runs through it, and electrodes at both ends of the tube. Alternating current is supplied to the electrodes through a transformer. Depending on the model of the transformer, neon can be made to glow in a variety of colors.
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