It is present in the Earth’s atmosphere only in traces, it is part of the first compound of noble gas which is synthesized. Xenon is also one of the 8 valence elements called inert or noble gases.
The notion of inert is no longer used for the description of this chemical series because certain elements of valence 0 also create compounds. A tube filled with xenon gas emits a blue glow when excited by an electrical discharge. Metallic xenon is obtained by applying a pressure of several hundred kilobars.
Xenon can also form clathrates with water when its atoms are trapped in a network of oxygen molecules. Xenon comes from the Greek xenos which means strange. It was discovered in 1898 in residues obtained by evaporation of compounds from liquid air.
Electron configuration of xenon
- And the simplified Electron configuration of xenon is: [Kr]4d10 5s2 5s6
- With the Electron configuration, it is possible to determine the way in which the electrons are structured in the atoms of an element. Bohr radius or atomic radius of this element is 108 pm, Van der Waals radius is 216 pm, while its covalent radius is 130 pm.
- This element has a total of 54 electrons and its distribution is as follows: in the first layer there are 2 electrons, in the second there are 8, in the third layer there are 18, in the fourth 18 more and in the fifth there are 8. electrons.
Uses of Xenon
The main and most famous use of this gas is in the creation of light-emitting devices such as electron tubes, bactericidal lamps, photographic flashes and strobe lights. There are also lamps used to excite ruby lasers, usually in a form of coherent light. Other uses of this element are:
- In nuclear facilities, this element is used in probes, bubble chambers, and other places where high molecular weight is a desirable quality.
- In general anesthesia, it is used as an anesthetic.
- The isotope Xe-133 is used as a radioisotope.
- Perxenates are used in analytical chemistry as oxidizing agents.
- Xenon lamps are placed in cinema projectors.
- In car headlights.
- In copiers and printers to seal the ink on the sheet of paper.
- In satellites as an ion propellant.
Properties of xenon
There are traces in the earth’s atmosphere, they appear one part in 20 million. The element is obtained commercially by extracting residues from liquefied air. This noble gas is found naturally in the gases that propagate certain natural sources.
There are at least 80 known xenon compounds which have bonds with oxygen and with fluorine. Almost all of these compounds are colorless. The gas can be safely stored in conventional sealed glass containers under pressure and at room temperature.
Xenon is not toxic, but some of its compounds are because they have strong oxidation properties. This gas creates an opposite effect to that of helium because when it is inhaled, the voice becomes deeper.
