Chemistry
The Challenges of Producing Element 117, Tennessine
Element 117 was extremely hard to produce owing to the almost non-availability of Berkelium needed for the process. When procured, transportation to Russia became a stumbling block. […]
Professor Ron B. Davis Jr.
Chemistry
Trans-Copernicium Alliance and Japan’s Discovery of Nihonium
American and Russian teams shared the credit for discovering Flerovium, and elements 116 and 118. Their camaraderie did continue but a new player entered the global competition of expanding the periodic table: Japan. […]
Chemistry
The GSI and the Race to Find New Superheavy Elements
The GSI discovered three superheavy elements: Elements 107, 108 and 109. It was, however, element 109 which was a little extra special, as it was the only one to be named after a female scientist, Lise Meitner, who co-discovered nuclear fission. […]
Chemistry
Dubna vs. Berkeley: The Battle of the Transfermium Elements
The credit and the prestige of naming newly discovered elements was taken extremely seriously by scientists at both the Dubna and the Berkeley labs. The naming of element 102 was an example. […]
Chemistry
Element 101 and the Beginnings of the Transfermium Wars
When Glenn Seaborg and his colleague Albert Ghiorso discovered element 101, the point was not only to be credited with its discovery but also getting to name it. They chose a Russian name, Mendelevium, for it, using this as an opportunity to extend an olive branch to them. […]
Chemistry
The Race to Expand the Periodic Table: Nobelium vs. Fermium
When the Berkeley team discovered element 100, the Swedish experiment published and laid the claim of having discovered it just days before them. […]
Chemistry
How Curium, Berkelium, and Californium Were Found
Glen T. Seaborg and his colleague fired helium nuclei at their new creations— americium and curium. Their idea worked as they ended up producing more new elements—elements 97 and 98! […]
Chemistry
The Use of Neutron Flux in Extending the Periodic Table
Neptunium and plutonium were elements heavier than uranium that formed in early nuclear reactors when some nuclei captured neutrons to become even more massive. […]
Chemistry
Uranium, Thorium, and Geologic Dating
Thorium 232 has an astounding half-life of 14 billion years which makes it capable of accurately dating geologic samples. In case of uranium, it is its proportion to lead in the sample, that helps date it. […]
Chemistry
Discovering New Radioactive Elements
On becoming aware of the radioactive properties of uranium, it was Marie Curie who successfully isolated new radioactive elements such as radon, polonium, and radium. […]