109.Meitnerium
Meitnerium is an elemental metal belonging to group nine of the periodic table. It is also known as Ununennium, and its symbol is Mt. This silvery-white metal was discovered in the year 1982 by a team of German scientists headed by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Munzenberg at the Institute of Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt, Germany.
The chemical symbol comes from the name of the Austrian physicist Lise Meitner, who worked with Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman in the discovery of nuclear fission, which made it possible to produce nuclear energy. Meitnerium was the first synthetic element to be named after a female scientist and has been produced in tiny quantities since its discovery.
Meitnerium is a highly radioactive element and can only be produced in particle accelerators through a process known as “cold fusion”. This process uses accelerated ions to bombard an isotope of the element bismuth at very low speeds, displacing one of the nuclei and forming an atom of meitnerium. The element has an average atomic mass of 266 and has a half-life of merely 7 seconds, making it very difficult to study.
Although very few atoms of this element have been produced, which makes it challenging to research and characterize, scientists know that meitnerium has a high boiling point and a low electronegativity. The metal is expected to show some properties similar to other elements in its group and behave like a transition metal with a valence of +1 or +2. Scientists have also speculated that meitnerium may be able to form compounds with other elements, although this is yet to be seen.
While meitnerium remains a very difficult element to study, scientists are excited about its potential. Its high boiling point and radioactivity could make it useful for nuclear technology, and its ability to form compounds could lead to exciting new possibilities in the field of chemistry. While it is unlikely that meitnerium will be used in everyday life any time soon, we should remain excited about the possibilities of this fascinating element.
