What are noble gases?

Question

I need some help! My teacher said that neon is a noble gas. I don't know what that means. Please help me!

Answer 1

Noble gases are also called inert gases because they do not react chemically. There the one in the last column of the table. Their last electron layer is full (all 8 electrons --2 for helium-- are there) and that's why they don't (usually) form bonds.

Answer 2

The noble gases are the elements in group 18 of the periodic table. They are the most stable due to having the maximum number of valence electrons their outer shell can hold. Therefore, they rarely react with other elements since they are already stable. Other characteristics of the noble gases are that they all conduct electricity, flouresce, are odorless and colorless, and are used in many conditions when a stable element is needed to maintain a safe and constant enviroment.

Contents [hide]
1 Etymology
2 Chemistry
3 Applications
4 Physical Properties
5 Notes
6 External links



[edit] Etymology
The noble gases were previously referred to as inert gases, but this term is not strictly accurate because several of them do take part in chemical reactions. Another older term was rare gases, although in fact argon forms a considerable part (0.93% by volume, 1.29% by mass) of the Earth's atmosphere.

The name 'noble gases' is an allusion to the similarly unreactive Noble metals, so called due to their preciousness, resistance to corrosion and long association with the aristocracy.


[edit] Chemistry
The existence of noble gases was not known until after the advent of the periodic table. In the late nineteenth century, Lord Rayleigh discovered that some samples of nitrogen from the air were of a different density than nitrogen resulting from chemical reactions. He and William Ramsay theorized that the nitrogen extracted from air was associated with another gas, argon. With this discovery, they realized that a whole class of gases was missing from the periodic table. Eventually all the known noble gases were discovered and the table was completed. Noble gases have full valence electron shells. Valence electrons are the outermost electrons of an atom and are normally the only electrons which can participate in chemical bonding. According to atomic theory derived from quantum mechanics and experimental trends, atoms with full valence electron shells are extraordinarily stable and therefore do not form chemical bonds.

Under standard conditions, the noble gases all occur as monatomic gases.

All of them exihibit an extremely low chemical reactivity, in fact no conventional compounds of helium or neon have yet been prepared. Xenon and krypton are known to show some reactivity in the laboratory—see noble gas compounds . Recently argon compounds have also been successfully characterised.

The noble gases' lack of reactivity can be explained in terms of them having a "complete valence shell". They have little tendency to gain or lose electrons. The noble gases have high ionization energies and negligible electronegativities.

Because of their unreactivity, the noble gases were not discovered until 1868, when helium was detected spectrographically in the Sun. The isolation of helium on Earth had to wait until 1895. The noble gases have very weak inter-atomic forces of attraction, and consequently very low melting points and boiling points. This is why they are all gases under normal conditions, even those with larger atomic masses than many normally solid elements.

Answer 3

All the elements in the far right column of the periodic table are noble gases. Their outer electron shell is full, so they normally do not react with other chemicals.

Answer 4

nobel gases have 8 electrons on the outer shell, except helium which has 2 electrons. they are very unreactive and form monoatomic gases. they are used in lightbulbs, helium balloons, neon lighting... etc because they do not react

Answer 5

noble gases are those elements in the periodic table located on the farthest right. technically they have complete orbitals and are very stable...

Answer 6

Un reactive elements that have full electron shells. Far right of the periodic table, includes helium, argon, xenon, neon...

Answer 7

www.wikipedia.org look it up