Xenon is a chemical element

Chemical element

A chemical element is a pure chemical substance consisting of one type of atom distinguished by its atomic number, which is the number of protons in its nucleus. Familiar examples of elements include carbon, oxygen, aluminum, iron, copper, gold, mercury, and lead.As of November 2011, 118 elements...

 with the symbol

Chemical symbol

A chemical symbol is a 1- or 2-letter internationally agreed code for a chemical element, usually derived from the name of the element, often in Latin. Only the first letter is capitalised...

 Xe and atomic number

Atomic number

In chemistry and physics, the atomic number is the number of protons found in the nucleus of an atom and therefore identical to the charge number of the nucleus. It is conventionally represented by the symbol Z. The atomic number uniquely identifies a chemical element...

 54. The element name is pronounced icon or ˈ . A colorless, heavy, odorless noble gas

Noble gas

The noble gases are a group of chemical elements with very similar properties: under standard conditions, they are all odorless, colorless, monatomic gases, with very low chemical reactivity...

, xenon occurs in the Earth's atmosphere

Earth's atmosphere

The atmosphere of Earth is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth that is retained by Earth's gravity. The atmosphere protects life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heat retention , and reducing temperature extremes between day and night...

 in trace amounts. Although generally unreactive, xenon can undergo a few chemical reaction

Chemical reaction

A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Chemical reactions can be either spontaneous, requiring no input of energy, or non-spontaneous, typically following the input of some type of energy, such as heat, light or electricity...

s such as the formation of xenon hexafluoroplatinate

Xenon hexafluoroplatinate

Xenon hexafluoroplatinate is the name of the product of the reaction of platinum hexafluoride and xenon, in an experiment that proved the chemical reactivity of the noble gases...

, the first noble gas compound

Noble gas compound

Noble gas compounds are chemical compounds that include an element from Group 18 of the periodic table, the noble gases.-History and background:...

 to be synthesized.

Naturally occurring xenon consists of nine stable isotopes

Isotopes of xenon

Naturally occurring xenon is made of nine stable isotopes. Xenon has the second highest number of stable isotopes. Only tin, with 10 stable isotopes, has more...

. There are also over 40 unstable isotopes that undergo radioactive decay

Radioactive decay

Radioactive decay is the process by which an atomic nucleus of an unstable atom loses energy by emitting ionizing particles . The emission is spontaneous, in that the atom decays without any physical interaction with another particle from outside the atom...

.