358 | The History and Use of Our Earth’s Chemical Elements one of these in the “island of stability” for the superactinides, and the super heavy elements

358 | The History and Use of Our Earth’s Chemical Elements one of these in the “island of stability” for the superactinides, and the super heavy elements

usually include elements Z-122 to Z-153. There is some speculation that some undiscovered isotopes of elements in the island of stability have half-lives of a billion or more years and that small traces of them might still be found in the crust and ancient rocks of the Earth since the Earth is only about 4.6 billion years old. There is also speculation that stable SHE elements of this island could be used to produce materials with exotic properties that have practical technological and industrial uses.

UNUNQUADIUM฀( 114 UUQ) SYMBOL:฀Uuq฀ PERIOD:฀7฀ SERIES฀NAME:฀Superactinide฀ ฀ATOMIC฀NO:฀114

ATOMIC฀MASS:฀˜289฀amu฀ VALENCE:฀Unknown฀ OXIDATION฀STATE:฀Unknown฀ NATU- RAL฀STATE:฀Assumed฀to฀be฀solid ORIGIN฀OF฀NAME:฀IUPAC฀assigned฀the฀temporary฀name฀“ununquadium,”฀literally฀meaning฀ 114. ISOTOPES:฀There฀are฀five฀currently฀known฀isotopes฀of฀ununquadium,฀ranging฀from฀Uuq- 285฀to฀Uuq-289,฀with฀half-lives฀ranging฀from฀0.85฀milliseconds฀to฀30฀seconds.฀The฀most฀ stable฀isotope฀is฀Uuq-289,฀which฀has฀a฀30-second฀half-life.

ELECTRON฀CONFIGURATION ฀ Energy฀Levels/Shells/Electrons฀ Orbitals/Electrons

s2,฀p6

฀ 3-M฀=฀18฀

s2,฀p6,฀d10

฀ 4-N฀=฀32฀

s2,฀p6,฀d10,฀f14

฀ 5-O฀=฀32฀

s2,฀p6,฀d10,฀f14

฀ 6-P฀=฀18฀

s2,฀p6,฀d10

฀ 7-Q฀=฀4฀

s2,฀p2

Properties฀and฀Characteristics There is some question as to whether isotope 289 of 114 ununquadium has been synthetically

produced or identified, so it is sometimes called eka-lead because it is located at the bottom of the column of elements in group 14 (IVA). Lead and tin are located just above it in this column and are therefore Uuq’s homologues; thus, Uuq has some properties similar to Pb.

Element 114 is the first element in the group referred to as “the island of stability,” which consists of element 114 to the optimum element 184. The elements in this so-called island of stability all have a rather stable arrangement of neutrons and protons in their nuclei and a similar configuration of the electrons in their orbits (shells) that result in longer half-lives than some of the SHE elements not located in the “island.”

As with Uuq’s valence and oxidation state, its melting point, boiling point, and density are not known

359 History

Guide to the Elements |

In December 1998 the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory sent a supply of plutonium-244 and calcium-48 to Russian scientists at the Joint Institute of Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia. The Russians bombarded the plutonium with ions of calcium, which, after some time, pro- duced a single atom of ununquadium-289. Uuq has a half-life of just 30 seconds, after which it decays successively into element 112 (ununbium), element 110, (darmstadtium), and ele- ment 108 (hassium). The Russian nuclear laboratory later synthesized several atoms of other isotopes of Ununquadium.

Common฀Uses Not enough atoms of ununquadium have been produced to find any practical uses except

in nuclear research laboratories. Examples฀of฀Compounds None are known. Hazards Atoms of ununquadium are produced in such small numbers that they are not a hazard to

the general public. ฀UNUNPENTIUM฀( 115 UUP) SYMBOL:฀Uup฀ PERIOD:฀7฀ SERIES฀NAME:฀Superactinide฀ ATOMIC฀NO:฀115

ATOMIC฀MASS:฀˜288฀amu฀ VALENCE:฀Unknown฀ OXIDATION฀STATE:฀Unknown฀ NATU- RAL฀STATE:฀Assumed฀to฀be฀a฀solid฀metal ORIGIN฀OF฀NAME:฀Ununpentium฀follows฀IUPAC’s฀temporary฀naming฀system฀for฀element฀ 115. ISOTOPES:฀There฀are฀5฀known฀isotopes฀of฀the฀element฀ununpentium,฀ranging฀from฀Uup- 287฀to฀Uup-291.฀The฀first฀two฀isotopes฀synthetically฀produced฀and฀confirmed฀were฀Uup- 287฀and฀Uup-288.฀Ununpentium’s฀most฀stable฀isotope฀is฀Uup-288,฀which฀has฀a฀half-life฀ of฀87฀milliseconds.฀It฀decays฀by฀alpha฀emission฀into฀ununtrium฀(element฀113).

ELECTRON฀CONFIGURATION ฀ Energy฀Levels/Shells/Electrons฀ Orbitals/Electrons

s2,฀p6

฀ 3-M฀=฀18฀

s2,฀p6,฀d10

฀ 4-N฀=฀32฀

s2,฀p6,฀d10,฀f14

฀ 5-O฀=฀32฀

s2,฀p6,฀d10,฀f14

฀ 6-P฀=฀18฀

s2,฀p6,฀d10

฀ 7-Q฀=฀5฀

s2,฀p3