Neon

noble gas · glowing signs · chemistry

Invisible but glowing. Neon is a colorless, odorless gas in nature, but when you send electricity through it, it bursts into a brilliant red glow. That's the secret behind all those cool glowing signs you see in cities.

Second noble gas. Neon is the second noble gas on the periodic table, which means it's super picky about making friends with other elements. It prefers to float around by itself, doing its own thing.

Lighter than air. Neon has about two-thirds the density of air, making it lighter and perfect for floating. It weighs so little that it can drift up into the upper atmosphere naturally.

Element number 10. Neon has 10 protons in its nucleus, which is why it gets the number 10 on the periodic table. Scientists use the symbol Ne as its shorthand.