Editing Neon (section)

==Characteristics==
Neon is the second-lightest noble gas, after [[helium]]. Like other noble gases, neon is colorless and odorless. It glows reddish-orange in a [[discharge tube|vacuum discharge tube]]. It has over 40 times the refrigerating capacity (per unit volume) of liquid helium and three times that of liquid [[hydrogen]].<ref name="CRC" /> In most applications it is a less expensive [[refrigerant]] than helium.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nassmc.org/bulletin/dec05bulletin.html#table |title=NASSMC: News Bulletin |access-date=5 March 2007 |date=30 December 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213072031/http://www.nassmc.org/bulletin/dec05bulletin.html |archive-date=13 February 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nhVEI52-VE8C&pg=PA195 |page=195|title=Fundamentals of Cryogenic Engineering |isbn=9788120330573 |last1=Mukhopadhyay |first1=Mamata |date=2012 |publisher=PHI Learning Pvt. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116145946/https://books.google.com/books?id=nhVEI52-VE8C&pg=PA195 |archive-date=16 November 2017}}</ref> Despite helium surpassing neon in terms of [[ionization energy]], neon is theorized to be the least reactive of all the elements, even less so than the former.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IoFzgBSSCwEC&pg=PA70|title=Modelling Marvels|last=Lewars|first=Errol G.|publisher=Springer|date=2008|isbn=978-1-4020-6972-7|pages=70–71|bibcode=2008moma.book.....L}}</ref>

[[File:Visible spectrum of neon.jpg|thumb|upright=2.5|center|The [[emission spectrum]] of neon shows individual wavelengths of light contributing to its perceived colour when heated.]]
Neon plasma has the most intense light discharge at normal voltages and currents of all the noble gases. The average color of this light to the human eye is red-orange due to many lines in this range; it also contains a strong green line, which is hidden, unless the visual components are dispersed by a spectroscope.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.electricalfun.com/plasma.htm |title=Plasma |access-date=5 March 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070307005259/http://www.electricalfun.com/plasma.htm |archive-date=7 March 2007 }}</ref>