In search of the elusive concept of the “Island of
Stability,” an idea foreign to many outside the world of
nuclear physics, University of California and Russian scientists
have created the heaviest element known so far.
Element 118, yet to be named, has 118 protons and was created in
independent studies conducted in Russia and at the UC-managed
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, researchers announced
Monday. As the heaviest element, the new creation will, if
confirmed, be placed beneath radon on the periodic table of
elements, said Anne Stark, a spokesman for Livermore.
Stark said that the creation of the element still must be
confirmed by other scientists, and this process could take some
time. Once another group of scientists verifies the discovery, the
element will be given a name.
“This is quite a breakthrough for science,” said
Tomás DÃaz de la Rubia, associate director of chemistry,
materials and life sciences at Livermore.
Scientists at the laboratories smashed together calcium and the
man-made element Californium to create an element with 118 protons
in its nucleus . The element lasted one millisecond.
Element 118 was created in Russia last year, using Californium
provided by American scientists.
Creating a new element “is sort of the Holy Grail of
nuclear physics,” said Konrad Gelbke, a scientist who was not
on the team but directs the National Superconducting Cyclotron
Laboratory at Michigan State University. “It’s
extremely hard to do.”
Scientists at Livermore and their Russian counterparts in Dubna,
at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, have discovered a
total of five new elements, including element 118.
Though the atom lasted only for a split second, the discovery is
believed to have brought scientists one step closer to the
“Island of Stability,” a term nuclear physicists use to
describe the possibility that there are elements with a
particularly stable number of protons and neutrons.
The most stable number is considered to be 184, Stark said, and
scientists believe that elements with 184 protons will decay much
more slowly than other elements.
“By reaching that number, (scientists) will get this
island of stable elements, so to speak,” Stark said.
“They keep trying to get closer and closer to that
island.”
Element 118 is the closest scientists have yet come to that
magic number.
“The decay properties of all the isotopes that we have
made so far paint the picture of a large, sort of flat
“˜Island of Stability’ and indicate that we may have
luck if we try to go even heavier,” said Ken Moody,
Livermore’s team leader.
Scientists working with element 118 will now be analyzing how to
make it last longer, Stark said.
With reports from Bruin wire services.