What can xenon be used for?
Xenon is used in certain specialised light sources. It produces a beautiful blue glow when excited by an electrical discharge. Xenon lamps have applications as high-speed electronic flash bulbs used by photographers, sunbed lamps and bactericidal lamps used in food preparation and processing.
How was xenon used in the past?
Due to its high atomic weight, xenon ions were used as a fuel in an experimental ion engine aboard the space probe Deep Space 1. Once thought to be completely inert, xenon will form compounds, usually with fluorine, oxygen and platinum.
What products contain xenon?
For example, stroboscopic lamps, photographic flash lamps, high-intensive arc-lamps for motion picture projection, some lamps used for deep-sea observation, bactericidal lamps, sunbed lamps and high-pressure arc all use this gas. In fact, you probably see xenon lamps on a regular basis.
How do I get xenon?
Xenon is obtained commercially as a by-product of the separation of air into oxygen and nitrogen. After this separation, generally performed by fractional distillation in a double-column plant, the liquid oxygen produced will contain small quantities of krypton and xenon.
What is radon used for in everyday life?
It is chemically inert, but radioactive. Radon decays into radioactive polonium and alpha particles. This emitted radiation made radon useful in cancer therapy. Radon was used in some hospitals to treat tumours by sealing the gas in minute tubes, and implanting these into the tumour, treating the disease in situ.
What are some fun facts about xenon?
Interesting Xenon Facts: William Ramsay and Morris Travers discovered xenon in 1898. Xenon was discovered shortly after they discovered krypton and neon. Like krypton and neon, they discovered xenon by evaporating liquid air and studying the remains. Xenon is a trace element in the Earth’s atmosphere.
What is the boiling point of xenon?
-162.6°F (-108.1°C)Xenon / Boiling point
How do you make xenon?
Xenon, from the Greek for ‘stranger’ is a colourless, odourless group 18 noble gas. Discovered in 1898 in London by William Ramsay, xenon is produced commercially by the fractional distillation of liquid air and is isolated as a by-product of the cryogenic production of oxygen and nitrogen.