Atomic Number & New Element Synthesis

Concept of Atomic Number and Synthesis of New Elements

• Elements are composed of neutrons, protons, and electrons.
• Elements on the periodic table were formed, identified and known by different methods.

Singularity, Inflation, Nucleosynthesis, Recombination

• These are some of the processes involved in the study of elements.
• Singularity is a one-dimensional point containing a huge mass in an infinitely small space.
• Inflation is a process, in which the basic homogeneity in the distribution of matter in the universe was established as a consequence of the first phase.
• Nucleosynthesis refers to nuclear fusion and the formation of new nuclei actions in the early stages of the universe.
• Recombination is the formation of the capture of free electrons by the cations in a plasma.

Atomic Number

• The atomic number represents the quantity of protons (positively charged particles) within an atom's nucleus.
• Henry Gwyn-Jeffreys Moseley demonstrated that the atomic number, which is the number of protons in an atom, determines the majority of an element's properties.
• Moseley established the relationship between the atomic number and the charge of the atomic nucleus.
• In 1913, Moseley utilized Rutherford's work to further the knowledge of elements and resolve issues within Mendeleev's periodic table arrangement.
• When the "positive charge" of a chosen element was higher, the frequency increased by a certain amount.

Transmutation Reaction

• This is a process by which one element or isotope transforms into another.
• The first nuclide that was artificially prepared was an oxygen isotope, specifically 170, which produced Hydrogen: 147N + 42α → 178O + 11H

Particle Accelerators

• These are devices that speed up protons to overcome the repulsion between the protons and target atomic nuclei, using magnetic and electrical fields.
• Elements with atomic numbers 43 and 85 were synthesized using particle accelerators in 1925; These were four empty spaces that corresponded to atomic numbers 43, 61, 85, and 87.
• Elements with atomic numbers greater than 92, which is the atomic number of uranium are called transuranium elements; nuclear reactors and particle accelerators were used in their laboratory discovery..

Nuclear Transmutations and Discoveries

• Four gaps noted in the periodic table corresponded to the atomic numbers 43, 61, 85, and 87. These elements were later synthesized via nuclear transmutations in labs.
• Previously unknown neutral particle produced by James Chadwick along with 12C by the nuclear reaction between , shown as 94Be + 42He → 126C + 10n

Technetium Creation

• It was artifically created by Emilio Segre and Carlo Perrier, created by bombardment of molybdenum by deuterons (heavy hydrogen, H12) in 1937, showing that 21H + 9742Mo → 2 10n + 9743Tc

Nuclear Chain Reaction

• The first controlled nuclear chain reaction was carried out in a reactor at the University of Chicago in 1942. ; shown as 23592U + 10n → 8735Br + 14657La + 3 10n

Identifying Methods

• X-ray spectroscopy is one of the methods of identifying elements, that involves shooting electrons and looking at x-rays
• He noticed that shooting electrons at elements that caused them to release x-rays with unique frequencies.

Review Questions & Answers

• Particle decelerators can speed up protons to overcome the repulsion between protons and the target atomic nuclei using magnetic and electrical fields.
• Mendeleev created a classification of elements based on their atomic weight.
• Singularity refers to a one-dimensional point containing a huge mass in an infinitely small space.
• Moseley noticed that shooting electrons at elements caused them to release x-rays at unique frequencies.
• Ernest Lawrence synthesized the element with atomic number 43 using a linear particle accelerator.
• Stellar Nucleosynthesis is known as both the origin and the production of heavy elements.
• Primordial Nucleosynthesis is the origin of light elements.
• Rutherford successfully carried out a nuclear transmutation reaction, which is a process of transforming one element or isotope into another element.
• Technetium was created by bombardment of molybdenum by deuterons, which is heavy hydrogen, by Emilio Segre and Carlo Perrier in 1937.
• Super Heavy Elements are elements with atomic numbers beyond 103.
• Chadwick discovered the neutron.