Buzz
While many of us associate neon with vibrant colors and glowing signs, the element itself, first isolated by scientists in 1898, might be less familiar. Neon, abbreviated as Ne and holding the 10th position on the periodic table, has some surprising facts to uncover.
1. Neon wasn’t William Ramsay's first major discovery.
By the time William Ramsay and British chemist Morris Travers isolated neon in 1898, Ramsay had already achieved groundbreaking discoveries. In 1894, along with physicist John Williams, Ramsay isolated argon from air. The following year, in 1895, he became the first to isolate helium on Earth. His curiosity about noble gases led to the discovery of neon, krypton, and xenon, earning Ramsay the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904.
2. Neon is part of the noble gases group.
There are seven noble gases: helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, radon, and oganesson (a synthetic element). Like the other noble gases, neon is colorless, tasteless, odorless, and nonflammable under standard conditions. Neon is the least reactive of all the noble gases, meaning it doesn’t form chemical bonds with other elements, so no compounds of neon exist. This lack of reactivity is what makes neon so valuable in light bulbs.
3. The word neon means new.
Except for helium, all noble gases' names end in -on. The term neon is derived from the Greek word for new, νέος.
4. Neon is extracted from the air.
Neon is abundant in the universe. It is created in stars and is part of solar wind, even found in the lunar atmosphere. However, on Earth, it is rare. It resides in Earth’s mantle and in tiny amounts in the atmosphere, which is where we obtain commercial neon. Dry air contains just 0.0018 percent neon compared to 20.95 percent oxygen and 78.09 percent nitrogen. By compressing and expanding air, scientists can liquefy most of these gases and separate them for industrial and commercial use. For example, liquid nitrogen is used for freezing warts and making cold brew coffee. However, extracting neon is a complex and inefficient process—88,000 pounds of liquid air are needed to produce just one pound of neon.
5. Neon glows red.
While we often associate neon with a wide array of bright, colorful lights, pure neon only emits a reddish-orange glow. The signs that are commonly called 'neon' often contain a mix of argon, helium, xenon, or mercury vapor. These gases produce different colors—mercury glows blue, helium emits a pinkish-red light, and xenon gives off a purple hue. By combining these gases or adding internal coatings to the tubes, engineers create a variety of vibrant colors. For example, deep blue light might come from a mixture of argon and mercury, while red signage likely uses a neon-argon combination. Some so-called neon signs might not even contain any neon at all. Today, many bright signs are made with LEDs instead of these gases.
6. Neon became a popular lighting element very quickly.
From the very beginning, Ramsay and Travers realized that neon illuminated when exposed to a high-voltage electric current. Ramsay even described it as having a 'brilliant flame-covered light, consisting of many red, orange, and yellow lines' in his Nobel Prize speech. Shortly after, French engineer Georges Claude sought to make neon commercially viable. He developed a new method for liquefying air and separating its components on an industrial scale. His company, L’Air Liquide, initially sold liquid oxygen, but Claude found a way to profit from neon, a byproduct of the process. Drawing inspiration from Moore lamps, he filled long glass tubes with neon and added electrodes at each end. His first neon tubes lit up Paris in 1910, and he sold his first neon sign in 1912. Claude secured a U.S. patent for neon lighting in 1915 and built a fortune from it.
7. Neon reached California before Las Vegas.
Neon signage didn’t immediately make its way to Las Vegas, though it would later become a defining feature of the city’s architecture. (Las Vegas is now home to the Neon Museum, which showcases a collection of iconic neon signs.) It’s unclear exactly where neon signs first appeared in the U.S.—legend has it that Los Angeles was the first to display a neon sign, thanks to luxury car brand Packard (whose bright billboard caused traffic jams when it was unveiled)—but scholars have struggled to verify this story. The earliest neon sign that researchers Dydia DeLyser and Paul Greenstein found in the U.S. was indeed a Packard sign, but it was located outside a showroom in San Francisco, not Los Angeles, dating back to 1923.
8. Neon is used for more than just signs.
Neon also plays a role in lasers, electronic devices, diving equipment, and more. It’s an efficient refrigerant, used for cooling motors, power equipment, superconductors, and various other applications.
