22
August 2002
Heavy elements: Chemistry gets heavy
Element 108 was first identified in 1984 at GSI (Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung) in Darmstadt, Germany. Hence its name of hassium, from the Latin for Hesse, the state where Darmstadt is located. Now an international team from GSI and nine other labs reports the first chemical studies to have been performed on hassium. On seven atoms of hassium to be precise, created one-by-one by fusion of magnesium-26 and curium-248. Hassium forms a volatile oxide similar to that of its lighter homologue osmium, as predicted for a member of group 8 of the periodic table. Hassium is the heaviest element whose chemistry has yet been studied, and the findings extend experimental testing of the predictions of the periodic table to 108, and counting. What's it like doing chemistry with just seven atoms? Kendall Powell explains.
Chemical investigation of hassium (element 108)
CH. E. D�LLMANN, W. BR�CHLE, R. DRESSLER, K. EBERHARDT, B.
EICHLER, R. EICHLER, H. W. G�GGELER, T. N. GINTER, F. GLAUS, K. E. GREGORICH,
D. C. HOFFMAN, E. J�GER, D. T. JOST, U. W. KIRBACH, D. M. LEE, H. NITSCHE, J.
B. PATIN, V. PERSHINA, D. PIGUET, Z. QIN, M. SCH�DEL, B. SCHAUSTEN, E. SCHIMPF,
H.-J. SCH�TT, S. SOVERNA, R. SUDOWE, P. TH�RLE, S. N. TIMOKHIN, N. TRAUTMANN,
A. T�RLER, A. VAHLE, G. WIRTH, A. B. YAKUSHEV & P. M. ZIELINSKI
Nature
418, 859–862 (2002); doi:10.1038/nature00980
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Heavy elements: A very brief encounter
KENDALL
POWELL
Little is known about the heavy elements that lie at the outer limits
of the periodic table. But how do you investigate atoms that decay within seconds?
Kendall Powell finds out.
Nature 418, 815–816 (2002); doi:10.1038/418815a
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