Name       : Neon
Symbol     : Ne
Atomic #   : 10
Atom weight: 20.179
Melting P. : -248.67
Boiling P. : -246.048
Oxidation  : 0
Pronounced : NEE-on
From       : Greek neos, "new"
Identified : Sir William Ramsay and Morris W. Travers in 1898.
Appearance : Colorless, odorless, tasteless gas
Note       : Fourth most abundant element in the known universe.

[Properties]

  Neon is classified as a noble gas, a group of gasses that are noted for
being relatively inert.  Neon is located in Group O on the periodic chart,
between helium (He) and argon (Ar).  Because their electron orbits are
completely filled, the noble gasses are very stable and do not form
compounds with other elements under normal conditions.  In fact, it is
this level of stability that other elements attempt to achieve when they
combine to form compounds.
  We have known since the early 1960s that the noble gasses, including
neon, are not totally inert as was once thought.  The three heavier noble
gasses, krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe), and radon (Rn), can form a few stable
compounds.  There are no known stable compounds for helium (He), neon,
and argon (Ar); however, ionized versions of these atoms can combine with
a proton, or hydrogen ion, to form a two-element ion.  Electrical
discharges in confined mixtures of helium and neon, for example, have
been found to produce NeH+.
  Neon is monatomic.  Unlike some of the other gasses, including oxygen,
nitrogen, and hydrogen, a molecule of neon gas is made up of one atom.
Whereas an oxygen molecule is portrayed as a diatomic molecule, the
symbol for a neon gas is simply Ne.