Roentgenium

Roentgenium 

Roentgenium is a chemical element with the symbol Rg and atomic number 111. It is an extremely radioactive synthetic element (an element that can be created in a laboratory but is not found in nature); the most stable known isotope, roentgenium-281, has a half-life of 26 seconds. Roentgenium was first created in 1994 by the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research near Darmstadt, Germany. It is named after the physicist Wilhelm Röntgen (also spelled Roentgen).

In the periodic table, it is a d-block transactinide element. It is a member of the 7th period and is placed in the group 11 elements, although no chemical experiments have been carried out to confirm that it behaves as the heavier homologue to gold in group 11. Roentgenium is calculated to have similar properties to its lighter homologues, copper, silver, and gold, although it may show some differences from them.


Discovery of Roentgenium

Roentgenium was first made by research scientists at the Heavy Ion Research Laboratory in Darmstadt, Germany in 1994.

The scientists bombarded nickel-64 with bismuth-209 in a heavy ion accelerator.

The element is named after physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen who discovered X-rays in 1895.


Appearance and Characteristics

Harmful effects:

Roentgenium is harmful due to its radioactivity.

Characteristics:

• Roentgenium is a synthetic radioactive metal and has only been produced in minute amounts.

Uses of Roentgenium

• Roentgenium is of research interest only.