When an electron hits a neon atom, does it transfer its energy to the atom and lose its own forever?
Most of the collisions between an electron and a neon atom are completely elastic—the electron bounces perfectly from the neon atom and retains essentially all of its kinetic energy. But occasionally the electron induces a structural change in the neon atom and transfers some of its energy to the neon atom. In such a case, the electron rebounds weakly and retains only a fraction of its original kinetic energy. The missing energy is left in the neon atom, which usually releases that energy as light.