Ununquadium

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Chemical elements

114 ununtrium ← ununquadium → ununpentium Pb ↑ Uuq ↓ (Uhq) Periodic Table - Extended Periodic Table
General
Name, Symbol, Number	ununquadium, Uuq, 114
Chemical series	presumably poor metals
Group, Period, Block	14, 7, p
Appearance	unknown, probably silvery white or metallic gray
Atomic mass	(298) g/mol
Electron configuration	perhaps [Rn] 5f14 6d10 7s2 7p2 (guess based on lead)
Electrons per shell	2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 18, 4
Phase	presumably a solid
CAS registry number	54085-16-4
References

Ununquadium ( IPA: /ˌjuːˌnʌnˈkwɒdiəm/), or eka- lead, is the temporary name of a radioactive chemical element in the periodic table that has the temporary symbol Uuq and has the atomic number 114.

History

The discovery of ununquadium in December 1998 was reported in January 1999 by scientists at Dubna ( Joint Institute for Nuclear Research) in Russia. The same team produced another isotope of Uuq three months later and confirmed the synthesis in 2004 and 2006.

In 2004 in the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research the synthesis of this element was confirmed by another method (the chemical identifying on final products of decay of element).

Ununquadium is a temporary IUPAC systematic element name. Some have termed it eka-lead, as its properties are conjectured to be similar to those of lead. It is expected to be a soft, dense metal that tarnishes in air, with a melting point around 200 degrees Celsius.

Synthesis

Ununquadium can be synthesized by bombarding plutonium 244 targets with calcium 48 heavy ion beams.

Synthesis of isotope 298

Manufacturing Ununquadium-298 would be very difficult, because nuclei summing to 114 protons and 184 neutrons are not available in weighable quantities.

However it may be possible to generate the isotope 298 of Element 114, if nuclear transfer reactions can be achieved. One of these reactions may be: ²⁰⁴Hg + ¹³⁶Xe → ²⁹⁸Unq + ⁴⁰Ca + 2n

Stable ununquadium

Ununquadium does not occur naturally on the earth—it is entirely synthesized in laboratories. All isotopes of ununquadium synthesized so far are neutron-poor. This means that they contain significantly-fewer neutrons than 184, which is a hypothetical "magic number" of neutrons for greater stability (isotope Uuq-298). Neutron-poor also indicates that the isotopes decay either by spontaneous fission, or by one of the two processes that convert a proton into a neutron, yielding element 113.