Transactinides

The final elements infographic looks at the Transactinides. These elements are all synthetically produced, and do not occur naturally; as such their applications are minimal, and their chemistry relatively unknown. Hence this graphic looks more at their general properties, and at some of the scientists after whom a number of the elements are named.Those elements that are not named after scientists are named after the laboratories in which the transactinides have been synthesised: dubnium after the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in the Russian town of Dubna; darmstadtium and hassium after the Institute for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt (in the german region of Hesse); flerovium after the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions (an older name for the JINR); and livermorium after the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, USA.

Livermorium is currently the heaviest element whose discovery has been confirmed; the JINR claimed to have synthesised a few atoms of ununoctium in 2006, but this was rejected by IUPAC in 2011. Beyond this, however, physicists have theorised that, after the elements with short half lives, heavier elements with longer half lives may be possible. These elements are collectively referred to as the ‘island of stability’.

A much more detailed analysis of the transactinides and possible future elements can be found here. This graphic completes the elements infographics series; the high resolution pdf can be downloaded here, and you can find the graphics for the other groups of the periodic table here.

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