History: Discovered in 1898 by the British Chemists; William Bramsay and Morris Travers. They found out that it occurred in the atmosphere, but only in minimal amounts. The gas was discovered while the two examined the tiny amount of gas left over after nitrogen, oxygen, and argon had been extracted from the air. They heated the sample and discovered a reddish glow. It was then named Neon after the Greek word, “neos”, meaning new. It was found to have ten protons and neutrons, so it was announced the tenth element on the periodic table of elements. Back to top 

Properties: Neon is an Inert Gas; there fore it has a full set of eight valence electrons. This makes it highly unreactive. However, there have been reports of a compound with Neon and Fluorine. Neon makes up about 65,000 parts of the Earths atmosphere is found in every 18.2 parts per million. (0.00182%) Neon is an odorless, colorless, tasteless gas and the 5th most common element in the Earths atmosphere. It is best known for its reddish glow when electrified. Back to Top

Neon Signs: To create a Neon sign, glass tubes are filled with the Neon gas or another Inert gas. An electric current is then sent through the gas. The current causes the atoms to break apart, but after just a fraction of a second they recombine and release the light. The light produced is the light the gas emits. These signs are used all over the world. The city most popular for its neon signs is Las Vegas. The city is widespread with thousands of huge neon signs. Back to Top

Cost and Availability: Neon is fairly abundant because it is the 5th most common gas in the Earth’s Atmosphere.  On an open market, neon is worth give or take two dollars a liter, or about eight bucks a gallon. The oceanic abundance of Neon is 1.2 times 10.4 milliliters per liter. Back to Top

Other Uses: Neon is not old used in light-up signs, but also in many other items used abundantly. For example, it is used in Gas lasers which use an electric discharge to emit a strong light. It is also important because it is used as a high voltage indicator and as a lighting arrestor. Neon gas can be used best when in glass tubes, as in TV tubes as well as wave meter tubes. Economically, neon is used in cryogenic refridgement. Back to Top

The Noble Gases: The Noble Gases also known as the Inert Gases are located on the very right of the periodic table of elements. They are all contain eight valence electrons, meaning that they are very unreactive, or stable. Each of the gases is used in light- up signs, each having their own color. Back to Top