Synthetic elements are chemical elements that do not occur naturally on Earth. They are created in laboratories, extending the periodic table and offering insights into matter’s properties and nuclear forces.
What Makes an Element Synthetic
Synthetic elements are not found in nature; they are produced in laboratories. They are inherently unstable. Unlike stable natural elements, synthetic elements are radioactive and decay rapidly. Their atomic nuclei contain a large number of protons and neutrons, making them unstable.
Their half-life, the time for half a sample to decay, is often short. For heavier elements, this can be fractions of a second. This rapid decay prevents accumulation in nature, as they quickly transform into lighter, more stable elements.
How Scientists Create Synthetic Elements
Scientists create synthetic elements through nuclear fusion in particle accelerators. These machines accelerate lighter atomic nuclei to high speeds. The accelerated nuclei collide with a target of heavier atomic nuclei. This collision can fuse nuclei, forming a new, heavier nucleus.
Creating a new element requires precise conditions. Researchers control the energy of accelerated particles and target material composition. Fusion events are rare, with few collisions forming a new element. Newly formed superheavy nuclei are unstable and exist briefly before decaying.
The Known Synthetic Elements
The creation of synthetic elements began with Technetium (Tc, atomic number 43) in 1937. This marked the first element created by human means. Following this, Promethium (Pm, 61) was synthesized in 1945. Neptunium (Np, 93) was created in 1940, becoming the first transuranic element (atomic number greater than uranium).
Since then, many more synthetic elements have been produced, extending the periodic table. These include:
- Plutonium (Pu, 94)
- Americium (Am, 95)
- Curium (Cm, 96)
- Berkelium (Bk, 97)
- Californium (Cf, 98)
- Einsteinium (Es, 99)
- Fermium (Fm, 100)
- Mendelevium (Md, 101)
- Nobelium (No, 102)
- Lawrencium (Lr, 103)
- Rutherfordium (Rf, 104)
- Dubnium (Db, 105)
- Seaborgium (Sg, 106)
- Bohrium (Bh, 107)
- Hassium (Hs, 108)
- Meitnerium (Mt, 109)
- Darmstadtium (Ds, 110)
- Roentgenium (Rg, 111)
- Copernicium (Cn, 112)
- Nihonium (Nh, 113)
- Flerovium (Fl, 114)
- Moscovium (Mc, 115)
- Livermorium (Lv, 116)
- Tennessine (Ts, 117)
- Oganesson (Og, 118)
Why Synthetic Elements Matter
Studying synthetic elements advances humanity’s understanding of the universe. These experiments probe the periodic table’s limits, investigating how many protons and neutrons an atomic nucleus can hold before becoming entirely unstable. This provides insights into the fundamental forces binding matter within an atomic nucleus.
Research focuses on the theoretical concept of the “island of stability.” Scientists hypothesize that some superheavy elements, though highly radioactive, might have isotopes with longer half-lives than their immediate neighbors. Discovering these would provide insights into nuclear structure and new applications. While practical uses are limited by their instability, their value lies in expanding scientific knowledge and refining atomic physics models.