Xenon is a chemical element with the symbol Xe and atomic number 54.
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35 Facts About Xenon
2.
Xenon is used in flash lamps and arc lamps, and as a general anesthetic.
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3.
Xenon is used to search for hypothetical weakly interacting massive particlesand as a propellant for ion thrusters in spacecraft.
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4.
Xenon was discovered in England by the Scottish chemist William Ramsay and English chemist Morris Travers in September 1898, shortly after their discovery of the elements krypton and neon.
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5.
Xenon tested the effects of varying the breathing mixtures on his subjects, and discovered that this caused the divers to perceive a change in depth.
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6.
Xenon was first used as a surgical anesthetic in 1951 by American anesthesiologist Stuart C Cullen, who successfully used it with two patients.
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7.
Xenon has atomic number 54; that is, its nucleus contains 54 protons.
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8.
Xenon is a member of the zero-valence elements that are called noble or inert gases.
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9.
Xenon emits a band of emission lines that span the visual spectrum, but the most intense lines occur in the region of blue light, producing the coloration.
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10.
Xenon is obtained commercially as a by-product of the separation of air into oxygen and nitrogen.
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11.
Xenon is relatively rare in the Sun's atmosphere, on Earth, and in asteroids and comets.
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12.
Xenon-135 is a notable neutron poison with a high fission product yield.
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13.
Xenon-136 is produced when xenon-135 undergoes neutron capture before it can decay.
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14.
Xenon is a tracer for two parent isotopes, xenon isotope ratios in meteorites are a powerful tool for studying the formation of the Solar System.
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15.
Xenon inferred that this was a decay product of radioactive iodine-129.
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16.
Xenon tetrachloride is more unstable that it cannot be synthesized by chemical reactions.
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17.
Xenon can be directly bonded to a less electronegative element than fluorine or oxygen, particularly carbon.
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18.
Xenon is used in light-emitting devices called xenon flash lamps, used in photographic flashes and stroboscopic lamps; to excite the active medium in lasers which then generate coherent light; and, occasionally, in bactericidal lamps.
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19.
Xenon is used as a starter gas in metal halide lamps for automotive HID headlights, and high-end "tactical" flashlights.
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20.
Xenon is used as a "starter gas" in high pressure sodium lamps.
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21.
Xenon has been used as a general anesthetic, but it is more expensive than conventional anesthetics.
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22.
Xenon is an effective inhibitor of plasma membrane Ca ATPase.
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23.
Xenon is a competitive inhibitor of the serotonin 5-HT3 receptor.
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24.
Xenon induces robust cardioprotection and neuroprotection through a variety of mechanisms.
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26.
Xenon is cardioprotective in ischemia-reperfusion conditions by inducing pharmacologic non-ischemic preconditioning.
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27.
Xenon allosterically reduces ATP mediated channel activation inhibition independently of the sulfonylurea receptor1 subunit, increasing KATP open-channel time and frequency.
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28.
Xenon, particularly hyperpolarized Xe, is a useful contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging.
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29.
Xenon-129 is currently being used as a visualization agent in MRI scans.
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30.
Xenon is the preferred propellant for ion propulsion of spacecraft because it has low ionization potential per atomic weight and can be stored as a liquid at near room temperature, yet easily evaporated to feed the engine.
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31.
Xenon is inert, environmentally friendly, and less corrosive to an ion engine than other fuels such as mercury or caesium.
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33.
Xenon difluoride is used as an etchant for silicon, particularly in the production of microelectromechanical systems.
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34.
Xenon is non-toxic, although it does dissolve in blood and belongs to a select group of substances that penetrate the blood–brain barrier, causing mild to full surgical anesthesia when inhaled in high concentrations with oxygen.
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35.
Xenon is rarely used in large enough quantities for this to be a concern, though the potential for danger exists any time a tank or container of xenon is kept in an unventilated space.
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