Xenon is a chemical element with the symbol Xe and atomic number 54. It is a dense, colorless, odorless noble gas found in Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts. Although generally unreactive, it can undergo a few chemical reactions such as the formation of xenon hexafluoroplatinate, the first noble gas compound to be synthesized. Xenon is used in flash lamps and arc lamps, and as a general anesthetic. The first excimer laser design used a xenon dimer molecule (Xe2) as the lasing medium, and the earliest laser designs used xenon flash lamps as pumps. Xenon is also used to search for hypothetical weakly interacting massive particles and as a propellant for ion thrusters in spacecraft. Naturally occurring xenon consists of seven stable isotopes and two long-lived radioactive isotopes. More than 40 unstable xenon isotopes undergo radioactive decay, and the isotope ratios of xenon are an important tool for studying the early history of the Solar System. Radioactive xenon-135 is produced by beta decay from iodine-135 (a product of nuclear fission), and is the most significant (and unwanted) neutron absorber in nuclear reactors.
54XeXenon
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Atomic properties
Standard atomic weight | 131.293 ±0.006 |
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Atomic mass | 131.293 u |
Atomic radii
Radius (calculated) | 108 pm |
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Covalent radius | 140 ±9 pm |
Van der Waals radius | 216 pm |
Atomic shell
Electron configuration | Kr 4d10 5s2 5p6 |
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Ionization energy | (1st) 12.129843 eV (2nd) 20.975 eV (3rd) 31.05 eV (4th) 42.2 eV (5th) 54.1 eV |
Shell model | Electrons k-shell:2 l-shell:8 m-shell:18 n-shell:18 o-shell:8 |
Physical properties
Phase | gaseous |
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Density | 0.005898 g·cm−3 (273.1 K) |
Molar volume | solid: 3.592·10-5 m3·mol−1 |
Speed of sound | gaseous: 169 m·s−1 liquid: 1,090 m·s−1 |
Temperatures
Melting point | 161.4 K |
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Boiling point | 165 K |
Liquid range | 3.651 K |
Triple point | 161.4 K @ 81.77 kPa |
Critical point | 289.7 K @ 5.842 MPa |
Enthalpies
Melting enthalpy | 2.3 kJ·mol-1 |
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Enthalpy of vaporization | 12.64 kJ·mol-1 |
Binding energy | 0 kJ·mol-1 |
Heat and conductivity
Thermal conductivity | 0.00569 W·m-1·K-1 |
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Magnetism
Magnetism | diamagnetic |
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Magnetic susceptibility | -4.391·10-5 cm3·mol−1 (298 K) |
Optical properties
Refractive index | 1 |
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Chemical properties
Basicity | slightly acidic |
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Oxidation state | - |
Electronegativity
Pauling scale | 2.6 |
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Sanderson scale | 2.34 |
Allred-Rochow scale | 2.4 |
Mulliken scale | 2.73 |
Allen scale | 2.582 |
Ghosh-Gupta scale | 5.812 eV |
Nagle scale | 2.45 |
Other properties
Natural occurrence | primordial |
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Crystal structure | Face-centered cubic |
Goldschmidt Classification | atmophile |
Superconductor | without transition tempperature |
Price/kg | 1,800 USD |
Natural abundances
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Universe
10 ppb ≈ 1·1011 M☉
sunny
Sun
-
destruction
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Earth’s crust
0.02 ppb ≈ 554 Gt
water_drop
Oceans
0.005 ppb ≈ 6.85 kt
waves
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