Flerovium and Livermorium?

Elements 114 and 116 are the latest additions to the Periodic Table of the elements,
created by smashing calcium ions into a curium target to create element 116. Element 116 decayed almost immediately into element 114. The scientists also created element 114 separately by replacing curium with a plutonium target.
Both elements were first produced at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Reasearch, Dubna, Russia, and Lawrence Livermore chemists. Element 114 was first produced in 1998 and element 116 in 2000. The proposed name for element 114 is flerovium with the symbol Fl, and, the proposed name for element 116 is livermorium with the symbol Lv.

Flerovium was chosen to honour the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions where element 114 was synthesized. The laboratory itself is named after Georgiy N. Flerov (1913-1990) , a renowned physicist who discovered the spontaneous fission of uranium and was a pioneer in heavy-ion physics. He is the founder of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research.

Livermorium was chosen to honour Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the city of Livermore, California. A group of researchers from the Laboratory, along with scientists at the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions, participated in the work carried out in Dubna on the synthesis of superheavy elements, including element 116. The element lawrencium, element 103, was named after LLNL's founder E.O. Lawrence.

The new names were submitted to the IUPAC in October 2011 and now remain in the public domain. The new names will not be official until about March 2012 when the public comment period is over.

Reference
DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (2011, December 1). Scientists propose new names for elements 114 and 116. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2011/12/111201125400.htm

Further Reading
History of the Elements
Periodic Table of the Elements
Isotopes
Nuclear Decay

Suggested Study Questions

1. What is the atomic number of each of the following elements?
   
   • calcium
   • curium
   • plutonium
   • uranium
   • lawrencium
     
   • flerovium
   • livermorium
2. How many protons are in the nucleus of an atom of each of the following elements?
   
   • calcium
   • curium
   • plutonium
   • uranium
   • lawrencium
     
   • flerovium
   • livermorium
3. Calculate the number of electrons present in an atom of each of the following elements:
   
   • calcium
   • curium
   • plutonium
   • uranium
   • lawrencium
     
   • flerovium
   • livermorium
4. For each of the elements above, state whether it is found in nature or whether it is man-made.
   
5. Assuming each of the elements above forms an ion with a charge of +2 then
   • how many electrons will be present in each ion?
   • how many protons will be present in each ion?

6. Write a possible nuclear equation to show the production of livermorium from calcium ions and curium atoms.

7. Write a possible nuclear equation to show the production of flerovium from plutonium atoms and calcium atoms.

8. Write a possible nuclear decay equation to show how livermorium could decay to produce flerovium.

9. The suggested symbol for Flerovium is Fl. List all other elements that have a symbol which includes the letter F.

10. The suggested symbol for Livermorium is Lv. List all the other elements that have a symbol which includes the letter L.
    

    
    

Element 114

About 10 years ago, scientists in Dubna, Russia, reported the observation of element 114. Scientists at Berkeley, USA, and GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt Germany have also reported observations of element 114.

In the most recent GSI experiment using the 120 meter long GSI particle accelerator, the scientists fired calcium ions onto a plutonium coated foil. The nuclei undergo fusion to form the nucleus of the new element. The atoms of element 114 were then separated from the other products of the reaction and identified on the basis of the radiation emitted during their decay. Two different isotopes of element 114 were identified with mass numbers 288 and 289. The measured half-lives are of the order of one second.

Russian reports on the creation of elements up to atomic number 118 are yet to be confirmed.

Reference:
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (2010, June 22). Chemical element 114: One of heaviest elements created. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 23, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2010/06/100622102347.htm

Study Questions

1. What is the atomic number of the element 114?
2. What are the atomic numbers of calcium and plutonium?
3. Define the term atomic number.
4. Write an equation to represent the fusion of calcium and plutonium.
5. What is meant by the term isotope?
6. For each of the isotopes of element 114 in the article above, give the atomic number, mass number, number of protons, number of neutrons, and number of electrons in an atom of each isotope.
7. Write a nuclear equation for the decay of each isotope of element 114 assuming it undergoes beta decay.
8. Write a nuclear decay equation for the decay of each isotope of element 114 assuming it undergoes alpha decay.
9. What is meant by the term half life?
   
10. If the half-life an isotope of element 114 is assumed to be 1 second, what percentage of the original isotope will be present after 10 seconds?