Xe
Science & Engineering abbreviation · Chemical Element
| Stands for | Xenon |
|---|---|
| Categories | Science & Engineering |
Xe stands for Xenon, a chemical element abbreviation.
Bright car headlights, photographic flashes and spacecraft ion engines all rely on xenon, element 54, a heavy and rare noble gas. It is also a general anesthetic and fills large detectors that hunt for dark matter. In 1962 xenon became the first noble gas shown to form a chemical compound.
Example: Each thruster ionizes Xe and accelerates the ions through charged grids to produce gentle, efficient thrust.
Usage notes
William Ramsay and Morris Travers isolated xenon in 1898 from liquefied air, the last of three noble gases they found that year, and named it from Greek xenos (stranger, foreigner). Neil Bartlett's 1962 synthesis of xenon hexafluoroplatinate overturned the belief that noble gases were completely inert. Xenon is extracted from air in tiny quantities, which makes it expensive.