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The mineralogy of Xenon

About Xenon
Xenon is a noble gas and as such does not form any natural minerals.

General Properties
Symbol:	Xe
Atomic Number:	54
Standard atomic weight (A_r):	131.293(6)
Electron configuration:	[Kr] 4d¹⁰ 5s² 5p⁶

Photos

<	Xenon filled discharge tube	>

Atomic Properties
Atomic Radius:	108 pm
Ionic Radius:	48 pm (+8)
Van der Waals Radius:	216 pm
1st Ionization energy:	1170 kJ/mol
Oxidation States:	2,4,6,8

Physical Properties
Standard State:	gas
Bonding Type:	atomic
Melting Point:	161 K
Boiling Point:	165 K
Density:	0.01 g/cm³
Metal/Non-Metal:	noble gas

Main isotopes of Xenon
Isotope	% in Nature	Half Life	Decay type	Decay product
¹²⁴Xe	0.095%	>4.8×10¹⁶y	β+β+ ?	¹²⁴Te
¹²⁵Xe	synthetic	16.9h	ε	¹²⁵I
¹²⁶Xe	0.089%	-	β+β+ ?	¹²⁶Te
¹²⁷Xe	synthetic	36.345d	ε	¹²⁷I
¹²⁸Xe	1.91%	-	Spontaneous fission ?
¹²⁹Xe	25.4%	-	Spontaneous fission ?
¹³⁰Xe	4.07%	-	Spontaneous fission ?
¹³¹Xe	21.2%	-	Spontaneous fission ?
¹³²Xe	26.9%	-	Spontaneous fission ?
¹³³Xe	synthetic	5.247d	β−	¹³³Cs
¹³⁴Xe	10.4%	>1.1×10¹⁶y	β-β- ?	¹³⁴Ba
¹³⁵Xe	synthetic	9.14h	β−	¹³⁵Cs
¹³⁶Xe	8.86%	2.165×10²¹y	β-β-	¹³⁶Ba

Main ions of Xenon
Name	Ion	Example minerals
xenon(IV)	Xe⁴⁺
xenon(VI)	Xe⁶⁺
xenon(VIII)	Xe⁸⁺

Other Information
Year Discovered:	1898
Discovered By:	William Ramsay working Morris William Travers William Ramsay and Morris Travers
Year Isolated:	1898
Isolated By:	William Ramsay and Morris Travers
Named For:	From the Greek: xenos - "foreign, a stranger"
CPK color coding:	#429EB0
External Links:	Wikipedia WebElements Los Alamos National Laboratory Theodore Gray's PeriodicTable.com

Simple Compounds
Fluorides	xenon hexafluoride	XeF₆	+6
Fluorides	xenon tetrafluoride	XeF₄	+4
Oxides	xenon trioxide	XeO₃	+6
Oxides	xenon tetroxide	XeO₄	+8

Geochemistry of Xenon
Goldschmidt classification:	Atmophile

Elemental Abundance for Xenon
Crust (CRC Handbook)	3 x 10^-11	mass fraction, kg/kg
Sea Water (CRC Handbook)	5 x 10^-11	mass per volume fraction, kg/L
Sea Water (Kaye & Laby)	4.7 x 10^-11	mass per volume fraction, kg/L
Atmosphere (NASA)	0.087ppm	as Xe
Solar System (Kaye & Laby)	4.8 x 10^-6	atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Ahrens)	4.70 x 10^-6 (20%)	atom mole fraction relative to Si=1 (% uncertainty)

Periodic Table

2He

3Li

4Be

Show/hide current element

Default Categories CPK Electronegativity Atomic Radius Lowest Oxidation Highest Oxidation Crustal Abundance Goldschmidt Mineral Species

Iodine << Xenon >> Caesium

Spotted a mistake/omission? - These pages are a work in progress, so please send all comments/corrections to jolyon@mindat.org. Thank you.

Constants and physical property data from:

Lide, David R. - Ed. (2005) CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics - A Ready-Reference Book of Chemical and Physical Data (85th ed.). CRC Press.
National Physical Laboratory (2005) Kaye and Laby Online (discontinued). https://web.archive.org/web/20190506031327/http://www.kayelaby.npl.co.uk/
Kaye, G. W. C.; Laby, T. H. (n.d.) Tables of Physical and Chemical Constants and some Mathematical Functions. Longmans, Green, and Co.
Greenwood, N.N.; Earnshaw, A. (1997) Chemistry of the Elements (2nd ed.). Butterworth–Heinemann.
Ahrens, Thomas J. - Ed. (1995) Global Earth Physics - A Handbook of Physical Constants - AGU Reference Shelf No. 1. American Geophysical Union.
Railsback, L. Bruce (2003) An earth scientist's periodic table of the elements and their ions. Geology, 31 (9) 737 doi:10.1130/g19542.1
Emsley, John (2001) Nature's Building Blocks - An A-Z Guide to the Elements. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

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