Xenon is the densest of the group of rare gases in air. It is scarce. Twenty million quarts of air (the size of several large gymnasiums) would contain only one quart of this gas.
Xenon was discovered by Sir William Ramsay during the 1890's. He prepared it by distilling liquid air.
The characteristics of the inert gases have recently undergone study. A Canadian chemist synthesized the first compound of xenon, xenon platinum hexafluoride. Soon after, Argonne National Laboratory made xenon tetrafluoride by a special process. The inert gases are perhaps not as inert as was thought.
Xenon (symbol Xe) has atomic number 54. Its atomic weight is 131.30
