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nihonium

Primary Information
Secondary Information

Definition

Nihonium is a synthetic chemical element with the symbol Nh and atomic number 113. It is the heaviest element that has been created in a laboratory. Nihonium was first created in 2004 by a team of Japanese scientists at the RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science.

Nihonium is a very unstable element with a half-life of just 20 seconds. This means that it decays into other elements very quickly. Nihonium is also very radioactive, meaning that it emits harmful particles.

Nihonium is a member of the transactinide series, which is a group of elements that are heavier than uranium. Nihonium is the first element in the transactinide series to be created in a laboratory.

Nihonium has not yet been found in nature. It is thought to be produced in very small amounts in the supernova explosions of very massive stars.

The name "nihonium" comes from the Japanese word for Japan, "nihon". The name was chosen to honour Japan, the country where nihonium was first created.

How can the word be used?

Nihonium is a synthetic element, which means that it does not occur naturally on Earth.

nihonium

Different forms of the word

The word "nihonium" is a proper noun, which means that it is the name of a specific element. As such, there are no different forms of the word "nihonium.".

Etymology

The word "nihonium" comes from the Japanese word "日本" (nihon), which means "Japan". The name was proposed by the team of scientists who discovered the element at the RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science in Japan.

The word "nihonium" has no other forms. It is a proper noun, which means that it is the name of a specific element.

The word "nihonium" was first used in 2016, when the element was officially named by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).

Question

What country is nihonium named after?

AQA Science Exam Question and Answer

Question:

Explain the significance of nihonium in the periodic table and its role in expanding our understanding of atomic elements. (6 marks).

Answer:

Nihonium, represented by the chemical symbol Nh, is a synthetic element that holds a significant place in the periodic table. It was first synthesised in 2003 by a team of Japanese scientists at the RIKEN Nishina Centre for Accelerator-Based Science. Nihonium is classified as a transactinide element and is a member of the p-block. Its atomic number is 113, making it one of the superheavy elements.

The significance of nihonium lies in its contribution to expanding our understanding of atomic elements and their properties. Nihonium's creation and placement on the periodic table help to fill in gaps in our knowledge about the behaviour of superheavy elements and their potential properties. Due to its high atomic number and the relatively short half-lives of its isotopes, nihonium exhibits unique and unusual chemical behaviours, which are valuable for exploring the limits of the periodic table and testing theoretical predictions about the properties of heavy elements.

Nihonium's discovery has implications for theoretical nuclear physics, as it adds to our understanding of the stability of superheavy nuclei and the factors that influence their formation. While nihonium itself has limited practical applications due to its short-lived nature, its synthesis and study have contributed to advancing our knowledge of the fundamental properties of matter and the behaviour of atomic nuclei.