Meitnerium

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Chemical elements

109 hassium ← meitnerium → darmstadtium Ir ↑ Mt ↓ (Upe) Periodic Table - Extended Periodic Table
General
Name, Symbol, Number	meitnerium, Mt, 109
Chemical series	transition metals
Group, Period, Block	9, 7, d
Appearance	unknown, probably silvery white or metallic gray
Atomic mass	(268) g/mol
Electron configuration	perhaps [Rn] 5f14 6d7 7s2 (guess based on iridium)
Electrons per shell	2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 15, 2
Phase	presumably a solid
CAS registry number	54038-01-6
References

Meitnerium ( IPA: /ˌmʌɪtˈnɛːriəm/), also called eka-iridium, is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Mt and atomic number 109. It is a synthetic element whose most stable isotope is Mt-276 with a half-life of 720 milliseconds.

History

Meitnerium was first synthesized on August 29, 1982 by a German research team led by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg at the Institute for Heavy Ion Research (Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung) in Darmstadt.
The team bombarded a target of bismuth-209 with accelerated nuclei of iron-58. The synthesis of this element demonstrated that nuclear fusion techniques could be used to make new, heavy nuclei.

The name meitnerium was suggested in honour of the Austrian physicist and mathematician Lise Meitner, but there was an element naming controversy as to what the elements from 101 to 109 were to be called; thus IUPAC adopted unnilennium ( IPA: /ˌjuːnɪˈlɛniəm/, symbol Une) as a temporary, systematic element name. In 1997, however, the dispute was resolved and the current name was adopted.