Posted on 10/16/2006 6:10:03 PM PDT by annie laurie
LIVERMORE, Calif., Oct. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. and Russian scientists say they have discovered the newest superheavy element -- element 118.
The researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Russia made the announcement Monday.
In experiments conducted at the JINR U400 cyclotron from February-June 2005, the researchers said they observed atomic decay patterns, or chains, that establish the existence of element 118. In these decay chains, previously observed element 116 is produced via the alpha decay of element 118.
Element 118 is expected to be a noble gas that lies right below radon on the periodic table of elements.
The results are published in the October edition of the journal Physical Review C.
More:
http://www.aip.org/pnu/2006/split/797-1.html
Elements 116 and 118 Are Discovered
At the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia, physicists (including collaborators from Lawrence Livermore National Lab in the United States) have sent a beam of calcium-48 ions into a target of californium-249 atoms to create temporarily a handful of atoms representing element 118. The nucleus for these atoms have a total atomic mass of 294 units.
In fact, only three of these atoms, the heaviest ever produced in a controlled experiment, were observed. After sending 2 x 1019 calcium projectiles into the target, one atom of element 118 was discovered in the year 2002 and two more atoms in 2005. The researchers held up publication after seeing their first specimen in order to find more events. According to Livermore physicist Ken Moody, speaking at a press conference today from Livermore, the three events have been well studied and the odds of a statistical fluke at work here are less than a part in ten thousand.
Caution would naturally be on the minds of anyone announcing a new element; Evidence for element 118 was offered once before, by a team at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (see PNU 432), but this claim was later retracted (PNU 550) when it was discovered that some of the data had been falsified.
In searching through 1019 collision events, how do you know you have found a new element? Because of the clear and unique decay sequence involving the offloading of alpha particles, nuclear parcels consisting of two protons and two neutrons. In this case, nuclei of element 118 decay to become element 116 (hereby itself discovered for the first time), and then element 114, and then element 112 by emitting detectable alphas. The 112 nucleus subsequently fissions into roughly equal-sized daughter particles.
The average lifetime observed for the three examples of element 118 was about one millisecond, not long enough to perform any kind of chemical tests (you'd need an hour's time for that). Element 118 lies just beneath radon in the periodic table and is therefore a kind of noble gas.
The Dubna-Livermore team previously announced the discovery of elements 113 and 115 (see PNU 672) and next hope to produce element 120 by crashing a beam of iron atoms into a plutonium target. To build nuclei much heavier than this you would need a beam of neutron-rich radioactive nuclei; the proposal to build an accelerator in the United States for doing just this has been stalled.
http://www.aip.org/pnu/2006/split/797-1.html
Yay!!! I think. What good is it if it can't even exist in nature?
What good is it?
The beauty of being able to do it, for one thing.
Also, it's interesting to test the theories about how decay happens, and about the range of forces. You predict mathematically what SHOULD happen, if our model is right, and then you make a mosh pit of particles and look for it TO happen. And if it does, it shows the predictive value of your models. Russians and Americans have this nuclear physics bit thing DOWN. (Unfortunately, North Koreans are catching on...)
Damn! More chemistry homework I can't help the grandkids with.
The printers of periodic charts rejoice.
The heaviest element known to science is managerium. The element has no protons or electrons but has a nucleus composed of one neutron, two vice-neutrons, five assistant vice-neutrons, 25 pro vice-neutrons and 125 assistant pro vice-neutrons all going round in circles. Managerium has a half-life of three years at which time it does not decay but institutes a series of reviews leading to reorganization. Its molecules are held together by means of the exchange of tiny particles known as morons.
I'm thinking an atomic weight of over 200 here...
But it does exist in nature, if not for very long. It was observed so it exists. The real question is: Are there processes outside of this accelerator where it might exist? If so, how does that happen and what is its role in star creation and star death?
Its just another piece of the cosmic puzzle. Who knows, maybe in 10 or 20 years this little discovery will prove to be very important.
Now that I've said that, can I have it named after me? Better yet, lets name it after Pat Tillman... Tillmanium.
LOL. Thanks, I needed that.
That means it's heavy, but not nearly as dense as a normal democrat. Its as vaporous as the others though.
"118"
So that is what teddy's tummy and rosies a$$ are made of! Who knew?!
LLS
I didn't ;-)
The article noted an average of one millisecond.
Cool discovery. What's next?
I want some.
A pound of this crap weighs eight pounds.
A pound of this crap weighs eight pounds.
REID MUST RESIGN!!!!!!!
We have known quantities of Managerium where I work.
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