Element 112

Physical properties

Not much is known about the chemical and physical properties of ununbium (₁₁₂Uub-285)other than the properties that are assumed to be similar to its homologues. It is also knownas “eka-mercury” since mercury is its major homologue located at the bottom of the columnof group 12 (IIB). As a liquid metal, it is assumed to be more volatile than mercury. Uub isexpected to also have some properties similar to zinc and cadmium, the other homologuesabove mercury in group 12. Ununbium’s most stable isotope is Uub-285, which has a halflifeof about 10 or 11 minutes, after which it decays into element 110, darmstadtium-281(unnilpentium), through alpha decay.

Isotopes

There are four isotopes of ununbium ranging from Uub-277 to Uub-285. Theyhave half-lives ranging from 0.24 milliseconds to 10 minutes for Uub-285. All are artificiallyproduced, are radioactive, and are unstable.

Origin of Name

IUPAC transition name, “ununbium” (which literally means 112), is used to name new elements until IUPAC’s naming committee decides upon a permanent name.

History

The same international group of scientists that discovered elements 107, 108, 109, and110—led by Peter Armbruster of the nuclear institute at Darmstadt, Germany—discoveredelement 112. They discovered ununbium on February 9, 1996, by accelerating to high-energyzinc atoms that fused with lead atoms. This was accomplished in their high-speed ion linearaccelerator. The number of combined protons in the nuclei of the two atoms (₃₀Zn-70 and₈₂Pb-208) equals the 112 protons in the synthetic atoms of ununbium (₁₁₂Uub-277). Thisprocess produced atoms of the isotope ₁₁₂ununbium-277, which in just 0.00024 of a second,decays into the element darmstadium-281 (₁₀₅Unp-281).

The Uses of Element 112

Because only a few atoms of ununbium have ever been synthesized, it currently has no usesbesides basic research in nuclear laboratories.