Tennessine

Tennessine is a chemical element with the symbol Ts and atomic number 117. It is one of the superheavy elements and belongs to the halogens in the periodic table. Tennessine is named after the U.S. state of Tennessee, in recognition of the contributions of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Tennessee to its discovery. The element was officially recognized and named by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) in 2016.

Discovery

The discovery of tennessine was a result of collaborative work between scientists at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Tennessee in the United States. The first successful synthesis of tennessine was reported in 2010 when atoms of berkelium (Bk) were bombarded with ions of calcium (Ca) in a particle accelerator, leading to the creation of tennessine and three neutrons.

Properties

As a synthetic element, tennessine's most stable isotopes are extremely radioactive and have very short half-lives, making it challenging to study its properties directly. Theoretical predictions suggest that tennessine behaves similarly to other halogens, particularly iodine, but with some unique properties due to relativistic effects on its electrons. It is expected to be a solid under standard conditions, but this has not been confirmed experimentally.

Isotopes

Several isotopes of tennessine have been synthesized, with Tennessine-294 being one of the most studied. These isotopes are produced in nuclear reactions involving lighter elements and are characterized by their instability and rapid decay into lighter elements.

Applications

Due to its extreme radioactivity and scarcity, tennessine has no practical applications outside of scientific research. The study of tennessine and other superheavy elements is important for understanding the limits of the periodic table and the behavior of elements under extreme conditions.

See also

• Periodic table
• Transactinide elements
• Island of stability
• Synthetic elements

References

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