Noble gas After the risks caused by the flammability of hydrogen became apparent, it was replaced with helium in blimps and balloons. "Noble gas" is translated from the German noun , first used in 1898 by Hugo Erdmann to indicate their extremely low level of reactivity. The name makes an analogy to the term "noble metals", which also have low reactivity. The noble gases have also been referred to as "inert gases", but this label is deprecated as many noble gas compounds are now known. "Rare gases" is another term that was used, but this is also inaccurate because argon forms a
Noble gas noble gases. As a result of a full shell, the noble gases can be used in conjunction with the electron configuration notation to form the "noble gas notation". To do this, the nearest noble gas that precedes the element in question is written first, and then the electron configuration is continued from that point forward. For example, the electron notation of phosphorus is 1s 2s 2p 3s 3p, while the noble gas notation is [Ne] 3s 3p. This more compact notation makes it easier to identify elements, and is shorter than writing out the full notation of atomic orbitals. The