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Tennessine

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Last updated date: 28th Mar 2024
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Tennessine Element

Tennessine is a superheavy synthetic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ts and atomic number 117. It is the second-heaviest element known to exist and the penultimate element of the 7th period of the periodic table. It is sometimes referred to as eka-astatine or element 117. Six tennessine atoms were seen during the initial 2010 syntheses, seven in 2012, and two in 2014. As of 2016, fifteen tennessine atoms have been seen.


It is sometimes referred to as eka-astatine or element 117. Six tennessine atoms were seen during the initial 2010 syntheses, seven in 2012, and two in 2014. As of 2016, fifteen tennessine atoms have been seen.


The element's previous name, ununseptium, which translates to "one-one-seven" in Latin, was assigned to it when it was No. 117 on the Periodic Table of Elements.


Tennessine


Tennessine


What is Uus?

Uus is believed to be a super heavy element ever found on the earth with atomic number 117. It is not a naturally occurring element and radioactive and highly unstable. Presently, the use of Ts or Uus is not much but only limited to research work. Only a few atoms of Uus have been discovered to date and have metallic nature placed among halogens.


Electronic Configuration

The element with atomic number 117 has the shorthand electron configuration $[Rn]$5f¹⁴6d¹⁰7s²7p5⁵.


Electron configuration - 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 3d¹⁰ 4s² 4p⁶ 4d¹⁰ 4f¹⁴ 5s² 5p⁶5d¹⁰ 5f¹⁴ 6s² 6p⁶ 6d¹⁰7s² 7p⁵


Electrons per shell - 2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 18, 7


Discovery of Tennessine

Tennessine was created through the fusion of element 20 with element 97, namely calcium-48 and berkelium-249. ²⁴⁹Bk with ⁴⁸Ca.


Scientists from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California discovered element 117 in 2010, and they jointly announced the discovery on April 5 of that year.


Their discoverers suggested names for elements 115 and 117. Both the names of the elements—moscovium and tennessine in the honor of the locals where the research that led to their creation was conducted.


Properties of Tennessine

  • Tennessine is predicted to have chemical characteristics of the halogens as a result of its placement in Group 17 of the periodic table. However, partial metalloid characteristics may occur from the impact of relativistic electrons.

  • Two isotopes of Tennessee have known half-lives, while the other two have unknown half-lives. The isotope 294Ts, with a half-life of roughly 80 milliseconds, is the most stable. It deteriorates via alpha decay. The other isotopes of tennessine are thought to undergo spontaneous fission as well as alpha decay.

  • The longest-living isotope is used to determine the atomic weight of transuranium elements created by humans. Since a new isotope with a longer half-life could be created in the future, these atomic weights should be regarded as tentative.


Uses of Tennessine

Tennessine has never been used for anything beyond fundamental research because so few atoms have ever been made.


Isotopes

Ununseptium is a recently discovered element with two of its isotopes. One of the isotopes has an atomic mass of 293, and another is having 294. However, the nature of both of them is highly unstable. Considering this element’s half-life, 293 isotope life is 14 ms, and 294 isotope life is 78 ms.


How did Ts Get Discovery?

It takes years to discover this element. However, the group of Russian and American scientists succeeded with it by bombarding two different elements- berkelium-249 and ions of calcium-48.


What are the Health aspects of Uus?

To date, only research is the primary purpose to study the Ts element. There is no particular use in daily life. Due to its radioactive nature, Uus is highly harmful to human health. However, there is no proper research done to date to know about its several health uses.


Key Properties of Ts

There is not much discovery on Ts, but still, there are some listed properties below:

  • It is highly radioactive and unstable.

  • It is placed among halogens as it is expected to show some related properties to them.

  • Relativistic electrons present in this element show some properties of being a metalloid.

Talking about the uses and application of Uus, there are such discoveries made to date. It is considered to be a synthetic chemical element with the 7th period.


Interesting Facts About Tennessine

  • It is the last element in the seventh period of the periodic table and the second-heaviest known element.

  • Element 117 has no known or anticipated biological function. Because it is radioactive and heavy, it is anticipated to be harmful.

  • Tennessine is currently only employed in academic settings. The element's decay mechanism is being used by scientists to create atoms of other elements as well as to study the features of the substance.


Summary

The chemical element Tennessine has the atomic number 117 and is a superheavy radioactive element. Tennessine is expected to be halogen as its position in the periodic table is in the 17th group. It is anticipated to be solid at room temperature.


Its uses are very limited as it is only synthesized for research purposes. Tennessine has two stable isotopes with Tennessine-294, the most stable isotope, having a half-life period of roughly 80 milliseconds. Moscovium-290 is produced as a result of alpha decay.


A biological function for element 117 is neither known nor anticipated. As a result of its radioactivity and weight, it is anticipated to be poisonous.

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FAQs on Tennessine

1. What are the different Properties of Tennessine?

The concept of half-lives among isotopes of an element is up with Ts. This element has two isotopes having half-lives and two unknown from half-lives. Ts 294 s believed to have a half-life of 80 milliseconds. This isotope decays with alpha decay, while other isotopes are believed to decay through alpha decay and spontaneous fusion. As it is a man-made element by bombarding berkelium-249 and ions of calcium-48, it is believed to have a high life. Ts 294 is believed to have the longest half-life. To date, there is no discovery for the practical uses of any of the isotopes of the tennessine element.

2. Why is Uus placed among Halogens and considered as Metal?

Uus as a Halogen: The name of the element has certain variations since its discovery. The radioactive nature of this element is believed to be solid at 20 degrees C. However, the classification is not known. But the placement of this element in the periodic table is among halogens. Its name depicts one-one-seventh in the Latin language. It is believed to show chemical properties as other halogen elements. 


Uus as a Metal: At the time of discovery, there was no knowledge about the metallic properties of Uus. However, the recent discoveries declared that Uus is metal and believed to be the earth’s heaviest metal element. It has a dark appearance. 

3. What is distinctive about Tennessine?

Element 117 of the periodic table is tennessine (Ts). There are two isotopes known of it, Ts-293 and Ts-294, and it has 117 protons. It has only ever been possible to manufacture a small number of atoms of tennessine, an artificial element that has never been seen to occur naturally. Tennessine atoms have been seen in total 15 times as of 2016, six times in 2010, seven times in 2012, and two times in 2014. This makes Tennessine to be the rarest element.

4. What is the significance of Tennessine in the periodic table?

Beyond contributing to the completion of the seventh row of the periodic table, the discovery of tennessine has other significance. Hamilton claims that it offers proof of the long-sought, theoretically predicted "island of stability."  The idea of an "island of stability" is a theory that explains why some superheavy elements are more stable than the rest of the periodic table's elements. There could be a collection of superheavy elements with improved stability and unusual physical and chemical properties that,  if developed, could lead to new technologies like portable energy sources.

5. What is the location of Tennessine in the Periodic table?

It is anticipated element 117 is a halogen, such as chlorine or bromine, based on its position on the periodic table. Tennessine will not be able to form anions or reach high oxidation states, according to scientists, because of relativistic effects caused by the element's valence electrons. Element 117 might in some ways resemble a metalloid or post-transition metal more closely. The melting and boiling points of element 117 are expected to follow halogen trends, even though they may not react chemically like halogens. Ununseptium in the periodic table should resemble astatine, which is right above it.