Elements

Xenon

By 2009-01-01T00:00:00

Propelled by its xenon ion engine, NASA's Dawn spacecraft

Source: NASA/William K. Hartmann courtesy of UCLA

A knock-out element, xenon changed chemical theory of the noble gases

There are two billion tonnes of xenon in the atmosphere but it is still one of the rarest elements on Earth. There is much less of it than the other noble gases - which explains why it is 50 times more expensive than neon. Some geochemists, however, suspect the 'missing' xenon is hiding in water clathrates or even locked up in silicate rocks.

John Emsley explores the noble gas: xenon 

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