9 November: Neon

Neon Sign Day – 10 facts about the element neon.

1. Neon’s chemical symbol is Ne and its atomic number is 10.
2. Neon is a colourless, odourless gas. It is part of a group called 'noble gases' in the Periodic Table.
3. It’s the second lightest noble gas, after Helium. If you fill a balloon with it, the balloon will rise up in the air but not as quickly as a balloon filled with helium.
4. It’s inert, meaning it doesn’t chemically react. It doesn’t form compounds with other elements.
5. Neon makes up just 0.0018% of the Earth’s atmosphere, but in the universe as a whole it’s a lot more common – it’s the fifth most abundant element after hydrogen, helium, Oxygen and carbon.
6. It was discovered by British chemists Sir William Ramsay and Morris W. Travers in 1898. They were studying liquid air by chilling a sample of air until it became a liquid, then warming it and collecting the gases as they boiled off. They discovered three new gases using this process. Krypton and xenon were the other two. They named it after the Greek word for new.
7. The melting point of neon is -433.46 °F (-258.59 °C) and the boiling point is -410.94 °F (-246.08 °C).
8. Most neon signs aren’t neon. When charged with Electricity, neon turns  Red-Orange, so the only neon signs which are actually neon are the red-orange ones. Other colours are created using different noble gases or fluorescent lights.
9. Neon signs were invented in 1902 by a French engineer called Georges Claude. He was in the liquid air business and sometimes had neon left over. He thought at first neon would make good indoor lighting, but found people didn’t like the red-orange colour. He soon figured out that it worked better as an advertising sign.
10. Other uses for neon include vacuum tubes, high-voltage indicators, lightning arrestors, television tubes, plasma tubes, helium-neon lasers and as a cryogenic refrigerant.

Killing Me Softly

Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.

Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena. 

Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.

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