Copernicium in the context of "Synthetic element"

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⭐ Core Definition: Copernicium

Copernicium is a synthetic chemical element; it has symbol Cn and atomic number 112. Its known isotopes are extremely radioactive, and have only been created in a laboratory. The most stable known isotope, copernicium-285, has a half-life of approximately 30 seconds. Copernicium was first created in February 1996 by the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research near Darmstadt, Germany. It was named after the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus on his 537th anniversary.

In the periodic table of the elements, copernicium is a d-block transactinide element and a group 12 element. During reactions with gold, it has been shown to be an extremely volatile element, so much so that it is possibly a gas or a volatile liquid at standard temperature and pressure.

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In this Dossier

Copernicium in the context of Darmstadt

Darmstadt (/ˈdɑːrmstæt/ DARM-stat, UK also /-ʃtæt/ -⁠shtat, US also /-stɑːt, -ʃtɑːt/ -⁠s(h)taht, German: [ˈdaʁmʃtat] ) is a city in the state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in the state of Hesse after Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, and Kassel.

Darmstadt holds the official title "City of Science" (German: Wissenschaftsstadt) as it is a major centre of scientific institutions, universities, and high-technology companies. The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) and the European Space Agency's European Space Operations Centre (ESA ESOC) are located in Darmstadt, as well as GSI Centre for Heavy Ion Research, where several chemical elements such as darmstadtium, roentgenium, and copernicium were discovered. The existence of several elements was also confirmed at the GSI Centre. The Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) is an international accelerator facility under construction. Darmstadt is also the seat of the world's oldest pharmaceutical company, Merck, which is the city's largest employer.

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Copernicium in the context of Flerovium

Flerovium is a synthetic chemical element; it has symbol Fl and atomic number 114. It is an extremely radioactive, superheavy element, named after the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, where the element was discovered in 1999. The lab's name, in turn, honours Russian physicist Georgy Flyorov (Флёров in Cyrillic, hence the transliteration of "yo" to "e"). IUPAC adopted the name on 30 May 2012. The name and symbol had previously been proposed for element 102 (nobelium) but were not accepted by IUPAC at that time.

It is a transactinide in the p-block of the periodic table. It is in period 7 and is the heaviest known member of the carbon group. Initial chemical studies in 2007–2008 indicated that flerovium was unexpectedly volatile for a group 14 element. More recent results show that flerovium's reaction with gold is similar to that of copernicium, showing it is very volatile and may even be gaseous at standard temperature and pressure. Nonetheless, it also seems to show some metallic properties, consistent with it being the heavier homologue of lead.

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Copernicium in the context of Group 12 element

Group 12, by modern IUPAC numbering, is a group of chemical elements in the periodic table. It includes zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), and copernicium (Cn). Formerly this group was named IIB (pronounced as "group two B", as the "II" is a Roman numeral) by CAS and old IUPAC system.

The three group 12 elements that occur naturally are zinc, cadmium and mercury. They are all widely used in electric and electronic applications, as well as in various alloys. The first two members of the group share similar properties as they are solid metals under standard conditions. Mercury is the only metal that is known to be a liquid at room temperature – as copernicium's boiling point has not yet been measured accurately enough, it is not yet known whether it is a liquid or a gas under standard conditions. While zinc is very important in the biochemistry of living organisms, cadmium and mercury are both highly toxic. As copernicium does not occur in nature, it has to be synthesized in the laboratory.

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Copernicium in the context of Unbihexium

Unbihexium, also known as element 126 or eka-plutonium, is a hypothetical chemical element; it has atomic number 126 and placeholder symbol Ubh. Unbihexium and Ubh are the temporary IUPAC name and symbol, respectively, until the element is discovered, confirmed, and a permanent name is decided upon. In the periodic table, unbihexium is expected to be a g-block superactinide and the eighth element in the 8th period. Unbihexium has attracted attention among nuclear physicists, especially in early predictions targeting properties of superheavy elements, for 126 may be a magic number of protons near the center of an island of stability, leading to longer half-lives, especially for Ubh or Ubh which may also have magic numbers of neutrons.

Early interest in possible increased stability led to the first attempted synthesis of unbihexium in 1971 and searches for it in nature in subsequent years. Despite several reported observations, more recent studies suggest that these experiments were insufficiently sensitive; hence, no unbihexium has been found naturally or artificially. Predictions of the stability of unbihexium vary greatly among different models; some suggest the island of stability may instead lie at a lower atomic number, closer to copernicium and flerovium.

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Copernicium in the context of Liquid metal

A liquid metal is a metal or a metal alloy which is liquid at or near room temperature.

The only stable liquid elemental metal at room temperature is mercury (Hg), which is molten above −38.8 °C (234.3 K, −37.9 °F). Three more stable elemental metals melt just above room temperature: caesium (Cs), which has a melting point of 28.5 °C (83.3 °F); gallium (Ga) (30 °C [86 °F]); and rubidium (Rb) (39 °C [102 °F]). The radioactive metal francium (Fr) is probably liquid close to room temperature as well. Calculations predict that the radioactive metals copernicium (Cn) and flerovium (Fl) should also be liquid at room temperature.

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