Noble Gas
Elements, Properties, Characteristics, & Facts
interactive periodic table
noble gas, any of the seven chemical elements that make up Group 18 (VIIIa) of the periodic table. The elements are helium (He), neon (Ne), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe), radon (Rn), and oganesson (Og). The noble gases are colourless, odourless, tasteless, nonflammable gases. They traditionally have been labeled Group 0 in the periodic table because for decades after their discovery it was believed that they could not bond to other atoms; that is, that their atoms could not combine with those of other elements to form chemical compounds. Their electronic structures and the finding that some of them do indeed form compounds has led to the more appropriate designation, Group 18.
When the members of the group were discovered and identified, they were thought to be exceedingly rare, as well as chemically inert, and therefore were called the rare or inert gases. It is now known, however, that several of these elements are quite abundant on Earth and in the rest of the universe, so the designation rare is misleading. Similarly, use of the term inert has the drawback that it connotes chemical passivity, suggesting that compounds of Group 18 cannot be formed. In chemistry and alchemy, the word noble has long signified the reluctance of metals, such as gold and platinum, to undergo chemical reaction; it applies in the same sense to the group of gases covered here.
The abundances of the noble gases decrease as their atomic numbers increase. Helium is the most plentiful element in the universe except hydrogen. All the noble gases are present in Earth’s atmosphere and, except for helium and radon, their major commercial source is the air, from which they are obtained by liquefaction and fractional distillation. Most helium is produced commercially from certain natural gas wells. Radon usually is isolated as a product of the radioactive decomposition of radium compounds. The nuclei of radium atoms spontaneously decay by emitting energy and particles, helium nuclei (alpha particles) and radon atoms. Some properties of the noble gases are listed in the table.
helium
neon
argon
krypton
xenon
radon
ununoctium
*At 25.05 atmospheres.
**hcp = hexagonal close-packed, fcc = face-centred cubic (cubic close-packed).
***Stablest isotope.
atomic number
2
10
18
36
54
86
118
atomic weight
4.003
20.18
39.948
83.8
131.293
222
294***
melting point (°C)
−272.2*
−248.59
−189.3
−157.36
−111.7
−71
—
boiling point (°C)
−268.93
−246.08
−185.8
−153.22
−108
−61.7
—
density at 0 °C, 1 atmosphere (grams per litre)
0.17847
0.899
1.784
3.75
5.881
9.73
—
solubility in water at 20 °C (cubic centimetres of gas per 1,000 grams water)
8.61
10.5
33.6
59.4
108.1
230
—
isotopic abundance (terrestrial, percent)
3 (0.000137), 4 (99.999863)
20 (90.48), 21 (0.27), 22 (9.25)
36 (0.3365), 40 (99.6003)
78 (0.35), 80 (2.28), 82 (11.58), 83 (11.49), 84 (57), 86 (17.3)
124 (0.09), 126 (0.09), 128 (1.92), 129 (26.44), 130 (4.08), 131 (21.18), 132 (26.89), 134 (10.44), 136 (8.87)
—
—
radioactive isotopes (mass numbers)
5–10
16–19, 23–34
30–35, 37, 39, 41–53
69–77, 79, 81, 85, 87–100
110–125, 127, 133, 135–147
195–228
294
colour of light emitted by gaseous discharge tube
yellow
red
red or blue
yellow-green
blue to green
—
—
heat of fusion (kilojoules per mole)
0.02
0.34
1.18
1.64
2.3
3
—
heat of vaporization (calories per mole)
0.083
1.75
6.5
9.02
12.64
17
—
specific heat (joules per gram Kelvin)
5.1931
1.03
0.52033
0.24805
0.15832
0.09365
—
critical temperature (K)
5.19
44.4
150.87
209.41
289.77
377
—
critical pressure (atmospheres)
2.24
27.2
48.34
54.3
57.65
62
—
critical density (grams per cubic centimetre)
0.0696
0.4819
0.5356
0.9092
1.103
—
—
thermal conductivity (watts per metre Kelvin)
0.1513
0.0491
0.0177
0.0094
0.0057
0.0036
—
magnetic susceptibility (cgs units per mole)
−0.0000019
−0.0000072
−0.0000194
−0.000028
−0.000043
—
—
crystal structure**
hcp
fcc
fcc
fcc
fcc
fcc
—
radius: atomic (angstroms)
0.31
0.38
0.71
0.88
1.08
1.2
—
radius: covalent (crystal) estimated (angstroms)
0.32
0.69
0.97
1.1
1.3
1.45
—
static polarizability (cubic angstroms)
0.204
0.392
1.63
2.465
4.01
—
—
ionization potential (first, electron volts)
24.587
21.565
15.759
13.999
12.129
10.747
—
electronegativity (Pauling)
4.5
4.0
2.9
2.6
2.25
2.0
—
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