What does XEO3 really mean?


Band names can be hard. What name do you choose to represent and define who you are? Well, first of all I don't think the band name describes the band at all. In fact, it's the other way around. That being said, the name "XEO3" happens to describe us quite well.

XEO3 stands for Xenon Trioxide. Xenon (Greek, meaning "strange") was discovered in England by William Ramsay and Morris Travers on July 12, 1898, shortly after their discovery of the elements krypton and neon. They found it in the residue left over from evaporating components of liquid air. Xenon is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Xe and atomic number 54. A colorless, very heavy, odorless noble gas, xenon occurs in the earth's atmosphere in trace amounts (occurring in one part in twenty million) and was part of the first noble gas compound synthesized. Xenon is also present in the atmosphere of Mars. In a gas filled tube, xenon emits a blue glow when the gas is excited by electrical discharge. This gas is most widely and most famously used in light-emitting devices called Xenon flash lamps, which are used in photographic flashes, stroboscopic lamps and to excite the active medium in lasers which then generate coherent light. Xenon's inert nature makes it environmentally friendly and less corrosive to an ion engine than other fuels such as mercury or cesium. Xenon is not toxic, but its compounds are highly toxic because of their strong oxidizing characteristics.

Xenon Trioxide is an unstable compound of xenon in its plus 6 oxidation state. It is a very powerful oxidizing agent, and liberates oxygen (and xenon) from water slowly, accelerated by exposure to sunlight. Once it reaches its melting point of 25 degrees celsius, it becomes unstable and explodes. It is also dangerously explosive upon contact with organic materials.

Ok, enough of the science lesson. I'm having high school chemistry flashbacks. And I can do without that.

XEO3, the band, shares many of its characteristics with its chemistry brother. We also melt at 25 degrees celsius. But beyond that, the music of XEO3 is rare and highly explosive. Our band is also "colorless", environmentally friendly and we don't like sunlight much either.

Well, there you have it. I hope you found this somewhat interesting.

Thanks for listening,

Roy
XEO3