Xenon is Just One Trivia Quiz

Answer: 6

The elements that are part of the exclusive noble gases group are: helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon and radon.

Answer: 18

The periodic table of elements is a table form representation of how the elements of our universe are arranged. Elements are organized into groups and periods (which are represented by the horizontal and vertical columns and rows) based on an element's structure and properties.

The noble gases get their name due to their property of not readily reacting with other elements (although some noble gases have very few compounds). The 'noble' part comes from an alternate definition of noble that means 'chemically inert'.

Answer: Henry Cavendish

Henry Cavendish (10, October 1731- 24, February 1810)was a British scientist who had a lifelong background in chemistry. He is most famous for his discovery of hydrogen, which he dubbed 'inflammable air', by dissolving metals in acids. Although Cavendish didn't discover the more intrinsic properties of the noble gases or come up with their names, he was the first to discover the presence of additional gases in air that were less reactive than nitrogen, which unbeknownst to Cavendish, were the noble gases. All these other scientists later expanded on Cavendish's discovery by isolating the noble gases and naming them.

Answer: helium

Helium gas is used to fill up party balloons and other balloon apparatuses. Unbelievably, helium was the first element to be discovered elsewhere than on earth. In fact helium wasn't discovered on earth until 1895. Pierre Janssen and Joseph Norman Lockyer were the first to discover helium on August 18 1868 while looking at the chromosphere of the sun, and named it helium after the Greek word for the sun, helios.

Answer: xenon

For many decades, it was widely believed among members of the scientific community that noble gases were not reactive enough to form bonds with other elements. This view was debunked in 1962, when the first noble gas compound, xenon hexafluoroplatinate or XePtF6, was discovered by Neil Bartlett, a chemistry professor teaching at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Here is Bartlett's account on that day: "Because my co-workers at that time (March 23, 1962) were still not sufficiently experienced to help me with the glassblowing and the preparation and purification of PtF6 [platinum hexafluoride] necessary for the experiment, I was not ready to carry it out until about 7 p.m. on that Friday. When I broke the seal between the red PtF6 gas and the colorless xenon gas, there was an immediate interaction, causing an orange-yellow solid to precipitate. At once I tried to find someone with whom to share the exciting finding, but it appeared that everyone had left for dinner!"

Bartlett's research led to the discovery of other noble gas compounds.

Answer: argon

Here are some approximate values to the gases that make up the air we breathe: nitrogen 78.084%, oxygen 20.946%, argon 0.9340%, carbon dioxide 0.0383%, neon 0.001818%, helium 0.000524%, methane 0.0001745%, krypton 0.000114, hydrogen 0.000055% and small quantities of water vapor.

Answer: radon

This radioactive element was discovered in 1900 by Fredrich E. Dorn. It was discovered from observing the decay of the element radium when Dorn noticed a gas emanating from it. Radon is a highly toxic, colorless and odorless gas.

Answer: argon

Argon was discovered by chemically removing nitrogen and oxygen from a container of air in 1895 by John William Strutt. Neon, krypton and xenon were discovered by Morris W. Travers and Sir William Ramsay in 1898.

Answer: helium

Helium has the lowest boiling point of any substance, with a boiling point of -452.1 degrees F (-268.9 C). Yes you read that right. Helium boils at a negative temperature.

Answer: neon

Discovered in 1898 by William Ramsey and Morris Travers, neon (Greek for 'new') is obtained from frozen argon that is slowly evaporated under reduced pressure. 'Neon Moon' was a 1991 hit by country duo Brooks and Dunn.