Oganesson is an artificial element that was synthesized for the first time in 2002. It is a highly radioactive and unstable element.
History and Discovery
According to the Mendeleev’s nomenclature of undiscovered elements, oganesson was named as eka-radon or element-118. Oganesson was also predicted by Neil Bohr, a Danish physicist, in 1922 and then after eight years of its predicted, it was successfully synthesized. As in 2002, oganesson was synthesized by the collaboration of an American-Russian team led by Yuri Oganessia working in Dubna, Russia at Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR). They bombarded califormnium-249 with calcium-48 nuclei and produced three atoms of oganesson-294 [1]. Its name was confirmed as oganesson by International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry in honor of Russian physicist Yuri Oganessian 2016, Its first isotope was created in 2011. Its symbol is Og.
Oganesson
| Periodic Table Classification | Group 18 Period 7 |
|---|---|
| State at 20C | Solid (predicted) |
| Color | Unknown |
| Electron Configuration | [Rn] 5f14 6d10 7s2 7p6 (predicted) |
| Electron Number | 118 |
| Proton Number | 118 |
| Electron Shell | 2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 18, 8 (predicted) |
| Density | 4.90 - 5.10 g.cm-3 at 20°C (predicted) |
| Atomic number | 118 |
| Atomic Mass | 294.00 g.mol -1 |
| Electronegativity according to Pauling | n/a |
Occurrence
Oganesson is an artificial element and does not exist in nature [2].
Physical Characteristics
Oganesson was earlier predicted to be a gas under normal conditions, but due to relativistic effects of its atoms, it is now known that oganesson exists in solid state under normal conditions. It has the highest atomic mass and the highest atomic number among all the 118 elements of the periodic table. It is expected to be resistant to oxidation.
Chemical Characteristics
The chemical characteristics of oganesson are not well studied yet. But it is predicted that oganesson, unlike other members of Group 18, is a reactive metal. However, the chemical properties of oganesson are expected to resemble other members of group 8 and most closely radon. The boiling point of oganesson is around 389K. Due to its very short half-life, no compounds of oganesson have been made so far [3].
Significance and Uses
- Oganesson is used for research purposes.
Health Hazards
Oganesson is a radioactive element and requires special precautions with handling and storage.
Isotopes of Oganesson
There is only one isotope of oganesson, oganesson-294. It is highly unstable and unnatural. It has a half-life of around 1 milli-seconds [4]. Oganesson-294 mostly decay through emission of alpha particles and less frequently through spontaneous fission. Another isotope, oganesson-295 have been identified in an experiment carried out GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt, Germany in 2011.
REFERENCES
[1]. Livermore scientists team with Russia to discover element 118″. Livermore press release. 3 December 2006. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
[2]. “The Top 6 Physics Stories of 2006”. Discover Magazine. 7 January 2007. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
[3]. Moody, Ken (2013-11-30). “Synthesis of Superheavy Elements”. In Schädel, Matthias; Shaughnessy, Dawn. The Chemistry of Superheavy Elements (2nd ed.). Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 24–8. ISBN9783642374661.
[4]. Chowdhury, Roy P.; Samanta, C.; Basu, D. N. (2008). “Search for long lived heaviest nuclei beyond the valley of stability”. Physical Review C. 77 (4): 044603. arXiv:0802.3837. Bibcode:2008PhRvC..77d4603C. doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.77.044603.