I.

Introduction

Neon (Greek neos “new”), symbol Ne, colorless, odorless, nonreactive gaseous element that makes up a tiny fraction of Earth's atmosphere. A member of group 18 (or VIIIa) of the periodic table, neon is one of the noble gases. The atomic number of neon—that is, the number of protons in the nucleus of a neon atom—is 10.