Ununtrium

Ununtrium: the essentials

 Brief description: experiments resulting in the formation of element 115 were reported in February 2004 following experiments carried out between 14 July - 10 August 2003 involving scientists at Dubna (Joint Institute for Nuclear Research at the U400 cyclotron with the Dubna gas-filled recoil separator, DGFRS) in Russia in a collaboration also involving scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA. In these experiments, the primary product were four nuclei of element 115 isotopes. All these four nuclei decayed through the emisson of α-particles to isotopes of element 113. The claim has not yet been ratified, but the results are now published in a reputable peer-reviewed journal.

Isolation

Isolation: currently, the identification of element 113 is yet to be confirmed by IUPAC, but the experiments leading to element 113 are now published in a prestigious peer reviewed journal. As only about four atoms of element 113 has ever been made (through decomposition of element 115 nuclei made in nuclear reactions involving fusing calcium nuclei with americium nuclei) isolation of an observable quantity has never been achieved, and may well never be. In the experiments leading to element 115 the following reactions occurred

²⁴³₉₅Am + ⁴⁸₂₀Ca → ²⁸⁷₁₁₅Uup + 4 ¹n

²⁴³₉₅Am + ⁴⁸₂₀Ca → ²⁸⁸₁₁₅Uup + 3 ¹n

In these first experiments, three nuclei of the ²⁸⁸Uup isotope were made and one of the ²⁸⁷Uup isotope. All the nuclei formed decayed in less than a second by emitting α-particles. These decays resulted in isotopes of ununtrium, element 113, (mass number 283 or 284, containing 113 protons and either 170 or 171 neutrons). These isotopes of element 113 are also radioactive and underwent further α-decay processes to isotopes of element 111 and so on down to at least element 105 (dubnium). One of the nuclei took over a second to decay to element 111.

²⁸⁷₁₁₅Uup → ²⁸³₁₁₃Uut + ⁴₂He (46.6 milliseconds) → ²⁷⁹₁₁₁Uuu + ⁴₂He (147 milliseconds)

²⁸⁸₁₁₅Uup → ²⁸⁴₁₁₃Uut + ⁴₂He (80.3 milliseconds) → ²⁸⁰₁₁₁Uuu + ⁴₂He (376 milliseconds)

²⁸⁸₁₁₅Uup → ²⁸⁴₁₁₃Uut + ⁴₂He (18.6 milliseconds) → ²⁷⁹₁₁₁Uuu + ⁴₂He (1196 milliseconds)

²⁸⁸₁₁₅Uup → ²⁸⁴₁₁₃Uut + ⁴₂He (280 milliseconds) → ²⁷⁹₁₁₁Uuu + ⁴₂He (517 milliseconds)

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