Element of the week: flerovium | @GrrlScientist

The theoretical Island of stability in nuclear physics.
Image: InvaderXan (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3. Unported license.)

This week’s chemical component is flerovium, which has the atomic symbol, Fl, and the atomic amount, 114. This element, originally offered the temporary name ununquadium, was formally named in 2012 for the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions (FLNR) of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Investigation in Dubna, Russia, where just a single lonely little atom of this element was first synthesised in 1998. This laboratory was named to honor Russian physicist Georgy Flyorov.

Flerovium can only be found in quite unique laboratories simply because it decays so swiftly. Despite the large size of its atoms, no a single has seen flerovium so no one understands what it seems to be like. Even so, this element is predicted to be a silvery white or pale grey solid (most likely) at area temperature.

Despite the fact that the fleeting half-lives of flerovium’s various isotopes can make it difficult to review its chemistry, the observed chemical properties make this element particular simply because it behaves relatively like a metal and somewhat like a noble gasoline. For this explanation, flerovium (along with copernicium) is placed into a new category acknowledged as “volatile metals”.

Although flerovium synthesis acquired off to a slow start off, it really is produced up for misplaced momentum because then: approximately 80 atoms have been observed so far. Of these, 50 had been deliberately synthesised whilst the other thirty or so resulted from radioactive decay of heavier aspects. But only a number of isotopes have been observed, all of which have mass numbers among 285 and 289 — and all of them have extremely brief half-lives.

I only located 1 exciting factor to share about flerovium it is predicted to lie near the centre of the “island of stability”. Basically, this concept comes from the observation that all factors with an atomic variety higher than 82 (lead) are unstable, with these elements’ longest-lived acknowledged isotope usually obtaining decreasing half-lives as the atomic quantity increases. The Island of Stability is a theoretical spot in the periodic table the place hefty transuranic elements are predicted to be a lot more secure than individuals aspects that have atomic numbers closer to uranium. By “far more steady”, it is meant that these elements’ half-lives are at least minutes or days extended alternatively of mere seconds (or much less). Astonishingly (to me, anyway), some scientists predict some isotopes of these heavy factors could have half-lives of hundreds of thousands of many years (doi:ten.1016/0370-2693(69)90514-) — which has never been observed for any of these hefty components. I want an individual who helps make these predictions would create a readable essay about the logic and mathematics that underlie these ideas, which appear fairly crazy to these of us with a passing familiarity with this kind of issues.

In this video, our favourite chemistry professor tells us a tiny about why all these hefty elements are actually provided atomic symbols (hint: it truly is these damned physicists’ fault):

[Video hyperlink]

Background studying:

Nilsson S.G., Thompson S.G. &amp Tsang C.F. (1969). Stability of superheavy nuclei and their achievable occurrence in nature, Physics Letters B, 28 (seven) 458-461. doi:10.1016/0370-2693(69)90514-

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..

Video journalist Brady Haran is the guy with the camera and the University of Nottingham is the spot with the chemists. You can adhere to Brady on twitter @periodicvideos and the University of Nottingham on twitter @UniofNottingham

You’ve currently met these elements:

Ununtrium: Uut, atomic amount 113
Copernicium: Cn, atomic number 112
Roentgenium: Rg, atomic amount 111
Darmstadtium: Ds, atomic number 110
Meitnerium: Mt, atomic quantity 109
Hassium: Hs, atomic quantity 108
Bohrium: Bh, atomic quantity 107
Seaborgium: Sg, atomic variety 106
Dubnium: Db, atomic quantity 105
Rutherfordium: Rf, atomic quantity 104
Lawrencium: Lw, atomic variety 103
Nobelium: No, atomic quantity 102
Mendelevium: Md, atomic amount 101
Fermium: Fm, atomic quantity 100
Einsteinium: Es, atomic variety 99
Californium: Cf, atomic amount 98
Berkelium: Bk, atomic quantity 97
Curium: Cm, atomic number 96
Americium: Am, atomic variety 95
Plutonium: Pu, atomic amount 94
Neptunium: Np, atomic variety 93
Uranium: U, atomic quantity 92
Protactinium: Pa, atomic number 91
Thorium: Th, atomic amount 90
Actinium: Ac, atomic amount 89
Radium: Ra, atomic variety 88
Francium: Fr, atomic variety 87
Radon: Rn, atomic variety 86
Astatine: As, atomic quantity 85
Polonium: Po, atomic quantity 84
Bismuth: Bi, atomic quantity 83
Lead: Pb, atomic quantity 82
Thallium: Tl, atomic amount 81
Mercury: Hg, atomic quantity 80
Gold: Au, atomic number 79
Platinum: Pt, atomic variety 78
Iridium: Ir, atomic variety 77
Osmium: Os, atomic number 76
Rhenium: Re, atomic variety 75
Tungsten: W, atomic number 74
Tantalum: Ta, atomic number 73
Hafnium: Hf, atomic number 72
Lutetium: Lu, atomic quantity 71
Ytterbium: Yb, atomic number 70
Thulium: Tm, atomic amount 69
Erbium: Er, atomic quantity 68
Holmium: Ho, atomic amount 67
Dysprosium: Dy, atomic quantity 66
Terbium: Tb, atomic quantity 65
Gadolinium: Gd, atomic amount 64
Europium: Eu, atomic variety 63
Samarium: Sm, atomic number 62
Promethium: Pm, atomic quantity 61
Neodymium: Nd, atomic quantity 60
Praseodymium: Pr, atomic variety 59
Cerium: Ce, atomic variety 58
Lanthanum: La, atomic number 57
Barium: Ba, atomic amount 56
Cæsium: Cs, atomic amount 55
Xenon: Xe, atomic number 54
Iodine: I, atomic quantity 53
Tellurium: Te, atomic quantity 52
Antimony: Sb, atomic amount 51
Tin: Sn, atomic number 50
Indium: In, atomic amount 49
Cadmium: Cd, atomic quantity 48
Silver: Ag, atomic variety 47
Palladium: Pd, atomic amount 46
Rhodium: Rh, atomic quantity 45
Ruthenium: Ru, atomic quantity 44
Technetium: Tc, atomic number 43
Molybdenum: Mo, atomic number 42
Niobium: Ni, atomic quantity 41
Zirconium: Zr, atomic amount forty
Yttrium: Y, atomic number 39
Strontium: Sr, atomic number 38
Rubidium: Rr, atomic number 37
Krypton: Kr, atomic variety 36
Bromine: Br, atomic variety 35
Selenium: Se, atomic number 34
Arsenic: As, atomic quantity 33
Germanium: Ge, atomic amount 32
Gallium: Ga, atomic number 31
Zinc: Zn, atomic quantity thirty
Copper: Cu, atomic amount 29
Nickel: Ni, atomic number 28
Cobalt: Co, atomic variety 27
Iron: Fe, atomic amount 26
Manganese: Mn, atomic amount 25
Chromium: Cr, atomic number 24
Vanadium: V, atomic quantity 23
Titanium: Ti, atomic number 22
Scandium: Sc, atomic quantity 21
Calcium: Ca, atomic amount twenty
Potassium: K, atomic number 19
Argon: Ar, atomic quantity 18
Chlorine: Cl, atomic number 17
Sulfur: S, atomic number 16
Phosphorus: P, atomic quantity 15
Silicon: Si, atomic quantity 14
Aluminium: Al, atomic amount 13
Magnesium: Mg, atomic variety twelve
Sodium: Na, atomic quantity eleven
Neon: Ne, atomic number ten
Fluorine: F, atomic number 9
Oxygen: O, atomic quantity 8
Nitrogen: N, atomic variety seven
Carbon: C, atomic variety six
Boron: B, atomic quantity five
Beryllium: Be, atomic quantity 4
Lithium: Li, atomic quantity three
Helium: He, atomic quantity 2
Hydrogen: H, atomic number one

Here’s the Royal Society of Chemistry’s interactive Periodic Table of the Aspects that is just actually truly fun to play with!

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..

GrrlScientist can also be discovered here: Maniraptora. She’s quite energetic on twitter @GrrlScientist and occasionally lurks on social media: facebook, G+, LinkedIn, Pinterest.

Element of the week: flerovium | @GrrlScientist