🔹 Basic Information

• Element Name: Xenon
• Discovered By: William Ramsay and Morris Travers
• Year of Discovery: 1898
• Category: Noble Gas
• Group: 18 (Noble Gases)
• State at Room Temperature: Gas (colorless, odorless, and dense) 💨

Xenon is a rare, heavy noble gas found in tiny amounts in the Earth’s atmosphere.

🔸 Chemical Properties

• Chemical Symbol: Xe
• Atomic Number: 54
• Atomic Mass: ~131.29 u
• Valency: Usually 0 (inert), but can form compounds like +2, +4, +6, +8
• Electronic Configuration: [Kr] 4d¹⁰ 5s² 5p⁶

Xenon is mostly unreactive, but under special conditions, it can form compounds with fluorine and oxygen — rare for a noble gas!

📘 Basic Things to Know

Xenon is colorless and non-toxic under normal conditions, but it’s very rare — it makes up only about 0.0000087% of Earth’s atmosphere! It’s best known for making things glow. ✨

🤔 Interesting Facts

• Xenon is used in high-intensity flash lamps and strobe lights — it gives off a bright white or bluish glow. 💡
• It’s used in spacecraft ion engines as a propellant — helping satellites and space probes glide through space! 🚀
• Xenon can be anaesthetic in medicine — it’s rare but very effective. 🛌
• Its name comes from the Greek word “xenos,” meaning “stranger” or “foreigner.”
• It was one of the first noble gases found to form chemical compounds, surprising chemists at the time.

🔧 Common Uses

• Lighting: Used in flashlights, strobe lights, and car headlights for intense white light. 💡🚗
• Medicine: Rarely used as an anesthetic gas in surgeries. 🏥
• Space Exploration: Powers ion propulsion systems in spacecraft (e.g., NASA uses it!). 🌌
• Plasma TVs and Lasers: Helps create plasma and high-energy lasers. 📺🔦
• Scientific Instruments: Used in detectors and research equipment due to its stability.

📚 Conclusion

Xenon is a silent, glowing hero of the periodic table — rare, noble, and powerful in both technology and space travel. For students, it’s a great example of how even the “quiet” elements can have bright and futuristic roles! 🌠🔬