Neon, a nonmetal, is a rare gas element in the 2nd period of Group VIIIA. Other members of the group are helium (He), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe), and radon (Rn).
The name is derived from the Greek word, neos, for new. Inspiration for the name is credited to Sir William Ramsay's son after the element was discovered by Ramsay and Travers in 1898. The symbol Ne is an abbreviation of the name.
Neon is a rare gaseous element present in the atmosphere to the extent of 1 part in 65,000 of air. It is obtained by liquefaction of air and separated from the other gases by fractional distillation. In the solid state the element has a face-centered cubic structure.
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. Neon is used in making the common neon advertising signs, which accounts for its largest use. It is also used to make high-voltage indicators, lightning arrestors, wave meter tubes, TV tubes, and lasers.
Liquid neon is now commercially available and is finding important application as an economical cryogenic refrigerant. It has over 40 times more refrigerating capacity per unit volume than liquid helium and more than three times that of liquid hydrogen.