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Synthetic Elements
What is a synthetic element?
What is a synthetic element?
A synthetic element is an element that is man made and not found naturally in the earth. The reason they do not appear is because they are to unstable to be found in the earth. Since these elements are so unstable, their half-lives are incredibly short and they generally only appear in experiments. Through the discovery of these elements, the missing gaps in the periodic table were filled.
What are properties of synthetic elements?
What are properties of synthetic elements?
Synthetic elements are very radioactive and decay at a crazy speed. This is the reason they are not found in the earth.
Discovering the Elements
Discovering the Elements
The first element to be discovered was technetium. This filled in a gap on the periodic table. The only place technetium is present without science is in red giant stars.
The next that came into view was curium which was discovered by Glenn T. Seaborg, Ralph A. James, and Albert Ghiorso, who is pictured on the right.
Then came the discoveries of americium, berkelium, and californium.
After those elements were discovered, Albert Ghiorso and other scientists discovered einsteinium and fermium.
Mendelevium, nobelium, and lawrencium were discovered next.
Finally during the Cold War, the Soviet Union and the US discovered rutherfordium and dubnium.
What are the uses of synthetic elements?
What are the uses of synthetic elements?
Most synthetic elements are used mainly to discover new elements and to study the properties of the elements. There are a few of these elements that have been used for other purposes such as technetium, plutonium, and americium. Technetium is used in medical tests and is used as a catalyst in chemical reactions. Plutonium is used in nuclear reactions. Americium is in smoke detectors.
There are four new synthetic elements that were discovered! This video tells you more about how they were discovered and what the element is.
How are the synthetic elements created?
How are the synthetic elements created?
There are many different ways in which these elements are created or discovered. Some were found as a result of atomic bombs. Still others are found through a particle accelerator. There are 26 known synthetic elements.
Works Cited
This Page Created By: Carolyn B.
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