Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Xenon helium compound?

AirCowPeaCock - 24-1-2012 at 12:06

If one were to say expose alpha partials to Xenon could it form Xenon-helium compounds like XeHe<sub>n</sub>--even for a fraction of a second?

[Edited on 1-24-2012 by AirCowPeaCock]

unionised - 24-1-2012 at 12:52

Possibly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exciplex
(I guess you mean particles)

AirCowPeaCock - 24-1-2012 at 13:21

yeah, I suppose so. Its a stupid hypothetical question. I was thinking of how one would go about making a light saber. Because if the He<sup>2+</sup> bound to the Xe it would take two Xe electrons with it (right?) Then that Xe<sup>2+</sup> would react with the O<sub>2</sub> from wince it came (from XeO<sub>n</sub>;) forming <u>something</u>?

Maybe interesting, but <b>I'm</b> never going to do it.


[Edited on 1-24-2012 by AirCowPeaCock]

neptunium - 24-1-2012 at 14:57

Xenon is a pretty big atom with a lot of electron wizzing arround the alpha particule should pack a punch to get anywhere near it and with more energy to begin with the probability of a capture diminishes fast..
not impossible but a rare and short live event i`d say.
interesting to think about though

AirCowPeaCock - 24-1-2012 at 15:06

What do you think would happen if one was to spray alpha particles and XeO4 out at high speeds? I choose Xe because it is a big atom. I want the alpha particles to interact with the Xe to make heat and light, and not to spray straight across "the battle field". Haha. I've heard of a light saber made of partaily encapsulated plasma, but I dislike that, because the same ceramic used to contain it would be invulnerable to is powers. If my idea were to work it could be much hotter than the boiling point of anything at atmospheric pressure.

neptunium - 24-1-2012 at 15:19

according to Wikipedia, XeO4 is a solid stable below -36C, i guess if one could mix it with a fine powder of Polonium or Am241 i guess one could "spray" alpha particules all over it ..
but due to its unstability , if heat is generated i would assume the whole compound would fall apart, freeing O2 and Xenon, destoying the sample in the process
cant have heat with this stuff!:)

AirCowPeaCock - 24-1-2012 at 16:08

The idea would be to free the Xe and O, so that the He<sup>2+</sup> would steal two electrons from Xe making it really pissed off! Why would I have to spray a fine powder? Couldn't I just have a source partaily enclosed by a positively charged plate?

neptunium - 24-1-2012 at 16:33

the problem is the alpha particules are pretty heavy and carry a lot of energy (or speed) when they encounter matter they rip electrons out but still carry some momentum .
even when they dont carry a charge anymore, and are called helium they still move too fast to be capture by chemical process . an electrical field would accelerate the charged particules
there is always a little Helium gas coming off uranium ore due to this process
for one to be capture by an already "unwelcoming" atom like Xe is a pretty long shot ...
the result would be a charged molecule like XeHe+ and it probably wouldnt be long before an electron come along to ruin your whole day!
maybe in high vacuum where atoms and molecules are far from each other in the dark and at very low temperature they would have a better chance..
with a high flux of alpha ray the Xe is being stripped off of its electrons and Helium simply go on its way, leaving a soup of ions and electrons.

AirCowPeaCock - 24-1-2012 at 16:42

Hmm, shoot it through heavy water first? But then they would take electrons from the water, wouldn't they? Looks like its back to the drawing board!

AirCowPeaCock - 24-1-2012 at 16:43

BTW, I just completed my luminol synthesis, total success! In the end I did it in 4 days!(:

Bot0nist - 24-1-2012 at 16:46

Why not post a write-up in the corresponding thread? You took notes right? Add a little content to SciMad...


Also, it is best to edit a previous post rather then make several in a row, when possible. I know the mods are big on this, as I have been reminded myself.

neptunium - 24-1-2012 at 16:53

i have internet connection problems sometimes it happens a post shows 2 or 3 times i try to delete the extra post but i apologize if i missed some!
thanks !

AirCowPeaCock - 24-1-2012 at 16:59

Quote: Originally posted by Bot0nist  
Why not post a write-up in the corresponding thread? You took notes right? Add a little content to SciMad...


Also, it is best to edit a previous post rather then make several in a row, when possible. I know the mods are big on this, as I have been reminded myself.


I still have to do a write up for school, Ill just post that when I get it done. I do normally edit the previous posts, but when I'm on my phone sometimes I don't, because it can be a pain to navigate on some sites--like this one. It's weird, when I try to move the cursor on this text box it doesn't like to go where I want it too. I'll try to edit my previous posts more now.

Adas - 25-1-2012 at 10:02

I am afraid, Helium will not react with anything.

neptunium - 25-1-2012 at 10:28

thats why its called a NOBLE gas right!

unionised - 25-1-2012 at 11:37

Quote: Originally posted by Adas  
I am afraid, Helium will not react with anything.

What's your second guess?
http://physics.unifr.ch/fr/page/189/

neptunium - 25-1-2012 at 11:41

ok , he said he will go back to the drawing board....he got it!

Noble gas compounds

magnus454 - 22-3-2012 at 20:56

Quote: Originally posted by AirCowPeaCock  
If one were to say expose alpha partials to Xenon could it form Xenon-helium compounds like XeHe<sub>n</sub>--even for a fraction of a second?

[Edited on 1-24-2012 by AirCowPeaCock]


I remember that they managed to make kryptonite, krypton di flouride, they used a radioactive isotope of krypton gas, and florine gas, and allot of electricity they formed a green faintly glowing crystal, that was slightly radioactive, and very very oxidizing.

nora_summers - 25-3-2012 at 18:49

In regards to making some sort of XeHe compound i think the neutral compound is impossible since if you draw a molecular orbital there are an equal number of electrons in the anti-bonding orbital as in the bonding orbital.

But in theory XeHe(2+) would be bonded because there would be no electrons in the anti-bonding orbital. Probably would have a very fleeting existence but its possible at least in theory, unlike neutral XeHe.

Although if there is insufficient splitting of the molecular orbital between the bonding and antibonding orbitals then the two electrons might spread out over both levels and once again we're back to a non-bonding situation.

i'm not sure how to resolve that last part.