Nihonium (Nh): properties, obtainment, history

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THE nihonium, atomic number 113 and symbol Nh, is a chemical element belonging to group 13 of the Periodic Table. In addition, it is a super-heavy element not found in nature. Thus, its obtainment can only be done artificially, through nuclear fusion reactions. The chemical characteristics of nihonium are still unclear, but it is speculated that it behaves similarly to its lighter counterpart, thallium, in some cases.

Nihonium was initially obtained by melting 70Zn with the 209Bi, at Riken Institute, Japan, in 2003. Although Russian and American scientists also asked to be recognized as discoverers of element 113, IUPAC recognized the Japanese scientists. The name refers to the word Nihon, as the Japanese call their native country.

Read too: Gallium — another chemical element belonging to group 13 of the Periodic Table

Topics in this article

  • 1 - Summary about nihonium
  • 2 - Properties of nihonium
  • 3 - Features of nihonium
  • 4 - Obtaining the nihonium
  • 5 - History of Nihônio
  • 6 - Solved exercises on nihonium
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summary about nihonium

  • It is a synthetic chemical element located in group 13 of the Periodic table.

  • Its production began in 2003, at the Riken Institute, Japan.

  • It makes up the group of elements most recently included in the Periodic Table, in 2015.

  • His studies are still very recent, but some seek to link it to other elements of group 13, such as thallium.

  • Its production is Nuclear fusion, using isotopes of 70Zn and atoms of 209Bi.

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Nihonium properties

  • Symbol: nah

  • Atomic number: 113

  • Atomic mass: between 278 and 286 c.u. (unofficial by Iupac)

  • Electronic configuration: [Rn] 7s2 5f14 6d10 7p1

  • Most stable isotope:286Nh (9.5 seconds of half life, which can increase by 6.3 seconds or decrease by 2.7 seconds)

  • Chemical series: group 13, super heavy elements

characteristics of nihonium

Nihonium, symbol Nh and atomic number 113, was one of the last elements included in the Periodic Table. Its officialization took place on December 30, 2015, by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), while its name was only made official in mid-2016.

Elements in this region of the Periodic Table are highly unstable, meaning they cannot be found in nature. Thus, in the face of an alleged existence, they would undergo radioactive decay almost instantly — the emission of nuclear particles, such as α and β — in order to achieve greater stability.

However, when they emit nuclear particles, they end up undergoing nuclear transmutation, that is, they become a new chemical element. Thus, superheavy elements, such as Nh, must be produced in the laboratory, which makes it a synthetic chemical element.

Nh, like other superheavy elements, is influenced by relativistic effects — in a simple way, distances from what is observed to what was expected, due to relativity. Thus, mathematical studies in the theoretical field, which simulate the consequences of the relativistic effect, pointed out that nihonium could interact weakly with quartz, but to have good adsorption to gold, like its lighter counterpart, thallium (Tl).

Preliminary theoretical studies also indicated the volatility from Nh. As for adsorption to quartz, thallium readily forms TlOH, for example, and nihonium is suspected to do the same.

Even so, how studies are still very preliminary and recent, much of what has been produced is open to discussion, and it is difficult to accurately determine the physicochemical properties of nihonium.

Obtaining the Nihonium

Element 113, until today, has been obtained in two ways: through cold fusion reactions, with the fusion of zinc (Zn, Z = 30) with bismuth (Bi, Z = 83), and also through the alpha decay of element 115.

In the first example, the zinc is accelerated to 10% of the speed of light, in order to overcome the repulsive forces of the two nuclei. An isotope is then produced 279Nh, which ends up emitting a neutron and producing the 278Nh.

Representation of the fusion of zinc with bismuth to obtain nihonium.

With a half-life of about 34 milliseconds, the isotope 278Nh undergoes six alpha decays (alpha particle emissions) to the element mendelevium (Md).

In the second case, element 113 arises from the alpha decay of element 115 (now known as muscovium) after it has been synthesized. One way is the hot fusion reaction of ions 48Ca with isotopes 243ah, producing the 288Mc and then, by alpha decay, the 284Nh, which continues to undergo alpha decay.

First step in the representation of the emergence of nihonium through the alpha decay of muscovium.
Second stage of the representation of the emergence of nihonium through the alpha decay of the muscovium.

See too: Hassium — the heaviest synthetic chemical element to have its properties analyzed

history of nihonium

The searches for element 113 began in 2003. Japanese researchers at the Riken Institute accelerated isotopes of 70Zn at 10% of the speed of light in order to collide with the 209Bi, through a fusion reaction. Thus, they managed to produce what we now know as 278Nh.

However, it was only in 2012 that Japanese researchers were able to detect the complete alpha decay series of element 113, contacting IUPAC to claim the discovery.

Concurrent with Japanese efforts, Russian scientists led by Yuri Oganessian, in collaboration with American scientists, also came to identify the element 113 through alpha decays of the element 115. Such experiments also put Russian and American scientists in contention for recognition of element 113.

The ideograms that form the word Nihon, which means " land of the rising sun".
The ideograms that form the word Nihon, which means "land of the rising sun".

However, IUPAC found the evidence from the Riken institute to be more solid, and so allowed the Japanese to have the right to name element 113. The name chosen was nihônio, symbol Nh, in reference to the country Japan. The word Japan is written by the Japanese using two Chinese characters that mean “land of the rising sun” and are read as Nihon or Nippon.

The name nihonium was also chosen because, in 1908, the Japanese chemist Masataka Ogawa published that had discovered element 43, naming it Japanese, symbol Np (which today belongs to neptunium, Z = 93). However, later, it was proved that element 43 was unstable, not being found in nature and only synthesized in 1937, receiving the name of technetium (Tc).

Thus, Japanese disappeared from the Periodic Table. However, years later, it was proved that, in fact, Ogawa had discovered element 75 (now known as rhenium). However, by that time, the element rhenium had already been officially discovered in 1925 and baptized.

Solved exercises on nihonium

question 1

Nihonium, symbol Nh and atomic number 113, is a chemical element that cannot be found in nature because of its short half-life. The most enduring of them, the 286Nh, has about 9.5 seconds. Knowing that half-life is the time required for the amount of the species to fall by half, how many seconds does it take for the amount of the above isotope to be 1/16 of the amount initial?

A) 9.5

B) 19

C) 28.5

D) 38

E) 47.5

Resolution:

Alternative D

Every 9.5 seconds, the amount of the isotope drops by half. So, after 9.5 seconds, its amount is half the initial amount. Another 9.5 seconds, totaling 19 seconds, the amount drops by half again, reaching 1/4 of the initial.

At 28.5 seconds, after another half-life time, the amount drops by half again, reaching 1/8 of the initial amount. Finally, after 38 seconds, the amount drops by half again, reaching 1/16 of the initial amount, as requested in the statement. Thus, the time required is 38 seconds.

question 2

In 2003, the search for element 113 began at the Riken Institute in Japan. At that time, scientists were able to produce the 278Nh through the fusion of zinc and bismuth atoms.

How many neutrons are in the quoted isotope?

A) 113

B) 278

C) 391

D) 170

E) 165

Resolution:

Alternative E

The number of neutrons can be calculated as:

A = Z + n

where A is the number of pasta atomic, Z is the atomic number and n is the number of neutrons. Substituting the values, we have:

278 = 113 + n

n = 278 - 113

n = 165

By Stefano Araújo Novais
Chemistry teacher

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