Bohrium
- The team in Darmstadt
- synthesized bohrium-262
- by targeting bismuth-209
- with chromium-54 nuclei.
- They detected the isotope
- from alpha decay chains
- containing fermium-250
- and mendelevium-250.
- They wanted to name it
- nielsbohrium, not to be
- confused with boron, after
- the father of atomic models.
Atomic number 107
- By the numbers—
- 107 protons
- 11 isotopes and 1 isomer
- 274 and 260
- heaviest and lightest
- known atomic weights
- 61 seconds and 9.5 miliseconds
- longest and shortest half lives
- 1981
- synthesis of bohrium-262
- 2009
- synthesis of bohrium-274
Reef of stability
- The premise that as superheavy elements become heavier
- they become more stable is true of bohrium;
- however, the theory that eventually heavier elements
- will reach an island of stability has not been proven.
- When people say that they can’t wait,
- they mean that it’s difficult for them to wait patiently.
- Really, they don’t have a choice; there are no alternatives,
- so, ironically, of course they will wait.
- So here we are,
- without a sight of land,
- like being grounded in reality,
- very much at sea.
There are many more numbers associated with bohrium, such as the numbers of neutrons, the excitation energies, and the energies of alpha decays. The half-life numbers look interesting when you arrange them in two dimensions for all known isotopes; its broken fuzzy line suggests the continuation of a possibility.
See also in The book of science:
Readings on wikipedia:
Other readings: