Question: why does xenon have a high boiling point

title: Xenon
text: Xenon , Xe A xenon - filled discharge tube glowing light blue General properties Pronunciation / ˈzɛnɒn / ​ ( ZEN - on ) , or / ˈziːnɒn / ​ ( ZEE - non ) Appearance colorless gas , exhibiting a blue glow when placed in an electric field Standard atomic weight ( A ) 7002131293000000000 ♠ 131.293 ( 6 ) Xenon in the periodic table Hydrogen Helium Lithium Beryllium Boron Carbon Nitrogen Oxygen Fluorine Neon Sodium Magnesium Aluminium Silicon Phosphorus Sulfur Chlorine Argon Potassium Calcium Scandium Titanium Vanadium Chromium Manganese Iron Cobalt Nickel Copper Zinc Gallium Germanium Arsenic Selenium Bromine Krypton Rubidium Strontium Yttrium Zirconium Niobium Molybdenum Technetium Ruthenium Rhodium Palladium Silver Cadmium Indium Tin Antimony Tellurium Iodine Xenon Caesium Barium Lanthanum Cerium Praseodymium Neodymium Promethium Samarium Europium Gadolinium Terbium Dysprosium Holmium Erbium Thulium Ytterbium Lutetium Hafnium Tantalum Tungsten Rhenium Osmium Iridium Platinum Gold Mercury ( element ) Thallium Lead Bismuth Polonium Astatine Radon Francium Radium Actinium Thorium Protactinium Uranium Neptunium Plutonium Americium Curium Berkelium Californium Einsteinium Fermium Mendelevium Nobelium Lawrencium Rutherfordium Dubnium Seaborgium Bohrium Hassium Meitnerium Darmstadtium Roentgenium Copernicium Nihonium Flerovium Moscovium Livermorium Tennessine Oganesson Kr ↑ Xe ↓ Rn iodine ← xenon → caesium Atomic number ( Z ) 54 Group , period group 18 ( noble gases ) , period 5 Block p - block Element category noble gas Electron configuration ( Kr ) 4d 5s 5p Electrons per shell 2 , 8 , 18 , 18 , 8 Physical properties Phase ( at STP ) gas Melting point 161.40 K ​ ( − 111.75 ° C , ​ − 169.15 ° F ) Boiling point 165.051 K ​ ( − 108.099 ° C , ​ − 162.578 ° F ) Density ( at STP ) 5.894 g / L when liquid ( at b.p. ) 2.942 g / cm Triple point 161.405 K , ​ 81.77 kPa Critical point 289.733 K , 5.842 MPa Heat of fusion 2.27 kJ / mol Heat of vaporization 12.64 kJ / mol Molar heat capacity 21.01 J / ( mol K ) Vapor pressure P ( Pa ) 10 100 1 k 10 k 100 k at T ( K ) 83 92 103 117 137 165 Atomic properties Oxidation states 0 , + 1 , + 2 , + 4 , + 6 , + 8 ​ ( rarely more than 0 ; a weakly acidic oxide ) Electronegativity Pauling scale : 2.6 Ionization energies 1st : 1170.4 kJ / mol 2nd : 2046.4 kJ / mol 3rd : 3099.4 kJ / mol Covalent radius 140 ± 9 pm Van der Waals radius 216 pm Spectral lines Miscellanea Crystal structure ​ face - centered cubic ( fcc ) Speed of sound gas : 178 m s liquid : 1090 m / s Thermal conductivity 5.65 × 10 W / ( m K ) Magnetic ordering diamagnetic Magnetic susceptibility − 43.9 10 cm / mol ( 298 K ) CAS Number 7440 - 63 - 3 History Discovery and first isolation William Ramsay and Morris Travers ( 1898 ) Main isotopes of xenon Isotope Abundance Half - life ( t ) Decay mode Product Xe 0.095 % stable Xe syn 16.9 h ε Xe 0.089 % stable Xe syn 36.345 d ε Xe 1.910 % stable Xe 26.401 % stable Xe 4.071 % stable Xe 21.232 % stable Xe 26.909 % stable Xe syn 5.247 d β Cs Xe 10.436 % stable Xe syn 9.14 h β Cs Xe 8.857 % 2.165 × 10 y β β Ba view talk references in Wikidata