Discovered by Ramsay and Travers in 1898. Neon is a rare gaseous element present in the atmosphere to the extent of 1 part in 65,000 of air. It is obtained by liquefaction of air and separated from the other gases by fractional distillation.
Natural neon is a mixture of three isotopes.
Six other unstable isotopes are known. It is still questionable if true compounds of neon exist, but evidence is mounting in favor of their existence. Neon also forms an unstable hydrate. In a vacuum discharge tube, neon glows reddish orange. Of all the rare gases, the discharge of neon is the most intense at ordinary voltages and currents.