Flerovium
post transition metalProperties
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Atomic Mass | 289 amu |
| Category | post transition metal |
| Group | 14 |
| Period | 7 |
| Electron Configuration | [Rn] 5f14 6d10 7s2 7p2 |
| Oxidation States | 4, 2, 0 |
| Discovered By | Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (Dubna), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (1999) |
About Flerovium
Flerovium was made at Dubna in 1998 by slamming calcium-48 ions into a plutonium-244 target — the first success of the so-called hot fusion technique that has since produced elements 113 through 118. The longest-lived isotope yet seen, Fl-289, hangs on for about 1.9 seconds before alpha-decaying. What makes flerovium genuinely interesting beyond its existence is what relativity does to it. Sitting in group 14 below lead, it should be a soft, dense metal. But at Z = 114 the inner electrons move so fast that the 7s and 7p₁/₂ orbitals are pulled deep into the atom and stabilized into a closed-shell-like pair. Theorists have argued for decades that this could make flerovium chemically inert — closer to a noble gas than a metal. Adsorption experiments on gold surfaces, conducted with single atoms one at a time, suggest flerovium really is unusually volatile for a group 14 element, though whether it crosses the line into noble-gas behavior is still debated. The island of stability that motivated its synthesis remains just out of reach.
Fun Fact
Flerovium is predicted to be so affected by Einstein's relativity that it might behave more like a noble gas than the metal it should be — the relativistic effects are so extreme they could fundamentally change what kind of element this is.
Common Uses
- Fundamental research in superheavy element physics
- Studies of relativistic effects on group 14 elements
- Testing the limits of metallic character
- Nuclear physics experiments at the island of stability
- No commercial applications