Element 116

Physical properties

Element 116 is the result of the decay process of element 118. (See entry for element 118for details.)
Element 116 was also directly produced by bombarding atoms of curium-248 with ions ofhigh-energy calcium-48 ions. At the bottom of group 6 (VIA) on the periodic table, Uuh ispresumed to have some of the properties and characteristics of its homologues polonium andtellurium, located just above it in this group.
Because of the few atoms of element 116 produced and their extremely short half-lives,the melting point, boiling point, specific gravity, and most of their other properties are notknown.

Isotopes

The number of isotopes for Uuh is unknown, but the most stable one thatis known is ununhexium-292, with a half-life of about 0.6 milliseconds. It decays intoununquadium-288 by alpha decay.

Origin of Name

Its name, “ununhexium” (116), follows IUPAC’s protocol.

History

The nuclear reaction involving the bombardment of curium with calcium that directly producedelement 116 occurred on December 6, 2000, at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Researchin Dubna, Russia, in cooperation with personnel of the Lawrence-Livermore Berkeley Group.This nuclear reaction resulted in the production of a few atoms of the isotope ununhexium-292, which has a half-life of 0.6 milliseconds and emits four neutrons. Uuh-292 is also themost stable isotope of element 116 as it continues to decay into elements with Z numbers of114, 112, 110, 108, and 106, plus emitting four alpha particles for each transmutation. (Znumbers are the number of protons in the nuclei of atoms.)
After the announcement and publication of the discovery of element 116 (and 118), controversyarose as to the actual production of these elements as reported. On July 27, 2001,not long after the announcement of their discoveries, the publication Physical Review Lettersreceived correspondence that announced the retraction of the discovery of these elements. Thisretraction was the result of the Berkeley team’s inability to reproduce the results. Since element116 is part of the decay chain of element 118, its existence is also problematic. See the entryfor element 118 for more detail on this issue.

The Uses of Element 116

Since isotopes of element 116 may not have been produced, there are no uses for it.

Hazard

There is no hazard to the general public because of the scarcity or nonexistence of ununhexium’sisotopes, which are used only in nuclear laboratories.