Category Elements

 

                        Livermorium, the element number 116, is named after the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. The element was first synthesized by the scientists of JINR, Dubna, in 2000. The name was officially given by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry on May 23rd, 2012. An extremely radioactive element, Livermorium can be produced only artificially; and therefore, little is known about it. The element is represented as Lv.

 

 

                     Tennessine is a radioactive element. It is artificially produced in a lab. Since the element is not found naturally in the universe, nothing much is known about it. The element is expected to be a solid, but its classification is unknown. In November 2016, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) approved the name tennessine for element 117, after the American state, Tennessee. The element is represented as Ts.

 

 

 

 

                       Oganesson is a radioactive, artificially produced element about which little is known. It is expected to be a gas. The atomic number of oganesson is 118, and the symbol is Og.

 

                  Nihonium is an extremely radioactive synthetic element. It is so radioactive that one of its isotopes is reduced to half its initial quantity within 10 seconds! Very little is known about nihonium. It is classified as a metal, and is expected to be solid at room temperature. The first undisputed claim of its discovery was made in 2004 by scientists from Japan. It was in November 2016, that the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) approved the name nihonium for element 113. It is represented as Nh.

 

 

 

 

                  Flerovium is named after Georgy Flyorov, founder of the Joint Institute of Nuclear Research in Russia, where the element was discovered. Flerovium is a radioactive element about which little is known. There is hardly any use for flerovium, outside experimental interests. The atomic number of the element is 114, and it is represented as Fl.

 

 

 

 

 

              A synthetic element, moscovium was first synthesized in 2003. The element is named after Moscow Oblast, Russia, where the element was first synthesized. Moscovium has the atomic number 115, and is represented as Mc.

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                         Darmstadtium is a synthetic element and it has the atomic number 110. The element is named after the city of Darmstadt, Germany, where it was first produced. Prior to its official discovery, darmstadtium’s place on the periodic table was held with the placeholder name of ‘ununnilium’. Its current name was officially assigned in 2003 by the IUPAC. It is believed to have somewhat similar properties to nickel, palladium and platinum. Darmstadtium is represented as Ds.

 

 

 

 

                   Element number 111 is roentgenium, a synthetic element. It is an extremely radioactive element. Roentgenium is named after Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, the German physicist who discovered X-rays. It was first synthesized in 1994. Roentgenium is represented as Rg.

 

 

 

 

 

                      Element number 112 is copernicium, a radioactive element created in a laboratory. Copernicium is named after Nicolaus Copernicus, the famed astronomer. The symbol Cp was initially recommended for element 112, but was rejected, because Cp had once been used as the symbol for lutetium, which, prior to 1949, was sometimes called cassiopeium. Now the element is represented as Cn.

 

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                   Bohrium is a synthetic element named after Danish physicist Niels Bohr, who was the first scientist to correctly explain atomic structure. Bohrium is one of the later discoveries, as it was not fully discovered until 1987.

                  A German research team under the direction of Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Munzenberg successfully synthesized the element at Darmstadt, Germany. It has the atomic number 107, and is represented as Bh.

 

 

 

 

 

                   Hassium is named after the German state of Hesse, home of the German Nuclear Research Institute. Peter Armbruster, Gottfried Munzenberg and their colleagues discovered hassium in 1984, around the same time they discovered bohrium. A Russian team was the first to attempt to synthesize hassium in 1978. However, they were unsuccessful. It has the atomic number 108, and it is represented as Hs.

 

 

 

 

                Meitnerium is an intensely radioactive synthetic element. It is named after Lise Meitner, Austrian physicist, who first suggested that radioactive atoms could spontaneously split apart releasing energy. Meitnerium was discovered by the same team of German researchers who isolated hassium and bohrium. Its atomic number is 109, and symbol is Mt.

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                    Element number 104 is rutherfordium. It is named after the great scientist Ernest Rutherford, who was one of the first men to explain the structure of the atom. A synthetic element, rutherfordium is not found in nature in its pure form but is created in a laboratory. The element was discovered by a team of researchers working at the Nuclear Institute in Dubna, Soviet Union. Although the Dubna team had claimed its discovery in 1968, another team at Berkeley also claimed discovery in 1970. Its atomic symbol is Rf.

 

 

 

 

                  Dubnium is a highly radioactive synthetic metal. The element is represented as Db, and its atomic number is 105. It is named after the Russian town of Dubna, where it was first produced. Dubnium behaves similarly to tantalum, but its chemical  properties have not been fully confirmed.

 

 

 

 

                     Seaborgium has the atomic number 106, and is represented as Sg. This element is named after Glenn Seaborg, an American physicist, who has significantly contributed to nuclear chemistry.

                     The element was discovered by the scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 1974. No observable amount of the element has ever been produced, so its appearance, melting point and boiling point are unknown.

                    Due to its limited sample size and rarity, there are no known uses for seaborgium.

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                           Three great scientists are honoured in the naming of these elements.

                           Mendelevium is a synthetic element named after Dmitri Mendeleev, father of the periodic table. Glenn Seaborg, Albert Ghiorso, Gregory Choppin, Stanley Thompson, and Bernard Harvey synthesized the element mendelevium in 1955. The first sample of mendelevium was only seventeen atoms! Due to its rarity, there are no known commercial applications for the element. The atomic number of the element is 101, and it is represented as Md.

 

 

 

 

   

                Nobelium is named after Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite and benefactor of the Nobel Prize. The element was officially discovered in April 1958 by Albert Ghiorso, Glenn Seaborg, Torbjorn Sikkeland and John R. Walton. As nobelium has been produced only in small quantities, its use is restricted to scientific research alone. It has the atomic number 102, and the atomic symbol, No.

 

 

 

 

                  Lawrencium is named after Ernest Lawrence, inventor of the cyclotron, a particle accelerator, in which radioactive elements are isolated. There are no known commercial uses for lawrencium, as it does not occur naturally. The atomic number of lawrencium is 103, and its atomic symbol is Lr.

 

 

 

 

                     Element 98 is californium. It is a synthetic, radioactive element which is not found in nature. Californium represented with the symbol Cf, is named after the University of California, where it was first made in 1950. This radioactive metal is made from plutonium in nuclear reactors.

 

 

 

 

 

                    Einsteinium is named after the great scientist Albert Einstein. Its atomic number is 99, and it is represented as Es. Einsteinium, a synthetic element, is produced in extremely small amounts, and has a very short lifetime. Einsteinium was discovered during the examination of debris from the first hydrogen bomb test in November 1952.

 

 

 

 

                 Element number 100 is fermium, and it was discovered in 1953. It is named after Enrico Fermi, a nuclear physicist, who developed the first artificial, self-sustaining nuclear reactor.

                  Fermi had died in 1954, at the time when the research results on the newly discovered element were being presented. Fermium is represented as Fm.

 

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                     Americium is named after the Americas. Americium is created during the nuclear reactions of heavy elements. Scientists say that before its actual production in 1944, the element would have been likely created during nuclear experiments!

                     Americium is a highly radioactive element that can be dangerous when handled incorrectly and can cause severe illnesses. This element’s main use is in smoke detectors as part of fire-safety measures as it produces a tiny current that triggers alarm when it meets with particles of smoke. Its atomic number is 95, and it is represented as Am.

 

 

                   Curium is named in honour of Pierre and Marie Curie. It is a hard, dense and silvery metal. The element was identified by Glenn Seaborg, Ralph James and Albert Ghiorso in 1944 at the wartime metallurgical laboratory at the University of Chicago. Curium is produced from plutonium, and is used as a power source for pacemakers, navigational buoys and spacecraft. It has the atomic number 96, and its atomic symbol is Cm.

 

 

 

 

            Berkelium is named after a city called Berkeley, in California, where it was first discovered. Obtained from plutonium in nuclear reactors, less than one gram of it is produced each year. There is hardly any industrial significance for the element, other than scientific research. Berkelium is represented as Bk, and it has the atomic number 97.

 

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                          Uranium is named after the planet Uranus and the Greek god of the heavens. The element is radioactive; and therefore, exposure to the element by humans can pose immediate threat to life. Uranium, a silvery white metal, was discovered and identified in 1789 by a German chemist, Martin H. Klaproth. This important element is used as fuel in nuclear reactors to generate electricity. It has the atomic number 92, and its atomic symbol is U.

 

 

 

                        Neptunium is the element number 93. It was discovered by Edwin McMillan and Philip Abelson, American physicists, in 1940. Compared to uranium, neptunium is not very radioactive. Neptunium’s current applications are limited. \The element is represented as Np.

 

 

 

  

 

                           Under standard conditions, plutonium is a hard, brittle, silvery metal. Plutonium is an extremely rare element in the earth’s crust. It is so rare that for many years, it was thought that it did not occur naturally.

                           Plutonium is used in both nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. It was plutonium that was used in the creation of the second nuclear weapon deployed during World War II known as the ‘Fat Man’, the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, on 9th August 1945. Plutonium has the atomic number 94, and it is represented as Pu.

 

 

 

 

                Element number 89 is actinium. The element, discovered by Friedrich Oskar Giesel in 1902, is a silvery white radioactive metal. The word actinium comes from the Greek word ‘aktis’ or ‘aktinos’, which means beam or ray. It is so radioactive that it glows in the dark. The element’s radioactivity, its rarity and hence its high cost have made actinium the least industrially useful element. Actinium is represented as Ac.

 

                 

 

                        Element number 90, thorium is named after Thor, the Nordic god of thunder, lightning and storm. A highly radioactive element, thorium is a silvery, lustrous metal. It is potentially an alternative to uranium in fuelling nuclear reactors. In its liquid state, thorium has a greater temperature range than any is other element, with nearly 3,000 degrees Celsius. Since thorium is a health hazard, its use has steadily come down over the years. It is represented as Th.

 

 

 

 

 

                 Protactinium is a bright silvery metal. The element with the atomic number 91 decays to form another metal actinium. The name protactinium means before actinium. Discovery of the element is attributed to Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner. The element was isolated by Aristid von Grosse. It has no known uses.

                Protactinium’s atomic symbol is Pa.

 

 

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