Neon Appearance: colorless, odorless, tasteless gas Chyna Malone Interesting Facts about Neon 0.0018 percent of Earth’s atmosphere is neon. Although it is relatively rare on our planet, neon is the fifth most abundant element in the universe. If you could gather all the neon from the rooms in a typical new home in the United States, you would get 10 liters (2 gallons) of neon gas. (3),(4) Neon forms in stars with a mass of eight or more Earth suns. Near the end of their lives, these stars enter the carbon burning phase, also making oxygen, sodium and magnesium. (For oxygen production, stars need a mass of ‘just’ five of our suns.) (5),(6) Neon has no stable compounds. Neon Appearance: colorless, odorless, tasteless gas Neon is a very inert element. Neon forms an unstable hydrate. In a vacuum discharge tube, neon glows reddish orange. Of all the rare gases, the discharge of neon is the most intense at ordinary voltages and currents. It is present in the atmosphere as 1 part in 65000. Isotopes Half Life Ne-20 Stable Ne-21 Ne-22 Date of Discovery: 1898 Discoverer: Sir William Ramsay Classification: Noble Gas Crystal Structure: Cubic Color: colorless Uses: Neon is used to make neon signs. Neon and helium are used to make gas lasers. Neon is used in lightning arrestors, television tubes, high-voltage indicators, and wave meter tubes. Liquid neon is used as a cryogenic refrigerant, as it has over 40 times the refrigerating capacity per unit volume than liquid helium and over three times that of liquid helium. Chyna Malone