flerovium
Definition
Flerovium is a chemical element with the symbol Fl and atomic number 114. It is a synthetic element, meaning that it has not been found in nature. Flerovium was first created in 1998 by a team of Russian scientists at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia.
Flerovium is a very heavy element, with a mass that is about 18 times greater than that of hydrogen. It is also a very radioactive element, with a half-life of only a few seconds. This means that flerovium atoms decay very quickly, and only a few atoms of flerovium have ever been created.
The chemical properties of flerovium are not well-known, as only a few atoms of the element have ever been created. However, it is thought that flerovium is a member of the platinum group of elements. This means that it is likely to be a very dense and reactive element.
Flerovium is named after the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions in Dubna, where it was first created. The name flerovium was approved by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) in 2011.
How can the word be used?
Flerovium is a synthetic element with the symbol Fl and atomic number 114.
Different forms of the word
The word "flerovium" has no other forms. It is a proper noun, which means that it is the name of a specific thing, in this case, an element. Proper nouns are not capitalised unless they start a sentence or are used in a title.
Etymology
The word "flerovium" is named after Georgy Flyorov, a Russian nuclear physicist who was the founder of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia. The name was proposed by a team of Russian scientists who synthesized the element in 1999.
Question
What is flerovium?
AQA Science Exam Question and Answer
Question:
Explain the discovery and characteristics of flerovium as a synthetic element. Describe the process of creating flerovium in a laboratory and its position in the periodic table. Provide real-life examples of how flerovium and other synthetic elements are utilised in scientific research.
Answer:
Flerovium is a synthetic element with the atomic number 114 and the symbol Fl. It was first synthesised in 1998 by a joint Russian-American research team at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Russia. Flerovium is a superheavy element and is highly unstable, decaying quickly through radioactive processes.
To create flerovium, researchers used a particle accelerator to bombard a target element, typically plutonium or lead, with a beam of high-energy particles. The fusion of the target nuclei with the incoming particles forms a transient flerovium nucleus, which quickly decays into other elements.
Due to its high radioactivity and short half-life, flerovium and other synthetic elements are not utilized in practical applications. Instead, they are crucial in scientific research to explore the fundamental properties of atomic nuclei and study the limits of nuclear stability. Understanding these superheavy elements expands our knowledge of the nature of matter and the fundamental forces governing the universe.