New Elements

Two new superheavy elements weighed in during February 2004 when scientists from the Glenn T. Seaborg Institute and the Chemical Biology and Nuclear Science Division at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in collaboration with researchers from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Russia (JINR), revealed element 113 and element 115.

In experiments conducted at the JINR U400 cyclotron with the Dubna gas-filled separator between July 14 and Auguse 10, 2003, the research team observed atomic decay patterns, or chains, that confirm the existence of element 115 and element 113. In these decay chains, element 113 is produced via the alpha decay of element 115. The results have been accepted for publication in the Feb. 1, 2004 issue of Physical Review C.

The experiments produced four atoms each of element 115 and element 113 through the fusion reaction of calcium-48 nuclei impinging on an amercium-243 target. The team observed three similar decay chains consisting of five consecutive alpha decays that combined took less than 30 seconds and terminated in a spontaneous fission of an element 105 (dubnium) isotope with a very long half-life (16 hours), making the discovery of particular interest to chemists. An interesting fourth decay chain also was observed that consisted of decays that were unlike the previous three chains.

“This just opens up the horizon on the periodic table,” said Ken Moody, Livermore’s team leader. “It allows us to expand the fundamental principles of chemistry. From new chemistry comes new materials and new technology.”

“This is quite a breakthrough for science,” said Chemistry and Materials Science Associate Director Tomas Diaz de la Rubia. “We’ve discovered two new elements that provide insight into the makeup of the universe.

Elemental Discoveries also brings you a timeline revealing the Discovery of the elements from the ancients such as gold and silver to the stable and unstable elements synthesized in the last hundred years, and all the discoveries in between.

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