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Concept

noble gases

A glowing sphere surrounded by ethereal clouds represents a noble gas, symbolizing its unique atomic structure with a full outer electron shell.

The six elements in the rightmost column of the periodic table — helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, radon — whose outer electron shells are already full. Because they have nothing to gain or give away, they almost never form compounds and were once called the inert gases. Their refusal to react is what makes them useful: argon fills lightbulbs to keep filaments from burning, helium cools superconductors.

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