Tennessine

Tennessine is a <a href="/facts/Synthetic_element/azU9Nr1m">synthetic chemical element</a>; it has <a href="/facts/Chemical_symbol/2Fe1VAL0">symbol</a> Ts and <a href="/facts/Atomic_number/bgAr581S">atomic number</a> 117. It has the second-highest atomic number and joint-highest <a href="/facts/Atomic_mass/J1FJY9MV">atomic mass</a> of all known elements and is the penultimate element of the <a href="/facts/Period_7_element/H5QuVHGQ">7th period</a> of the <a href="/facts/Periodic_table/umdGIfUb">periodic table</a>. It is named after the U.S. state of <a href="/facts/Tennessee/A3mLY9bu">Tennessee</a>, where key research institutions involved in its discovery are located (however, the IUPAC says that the element is named after the "region of Tennessee").
The discovery of tennessine was officially announced in <a href="/facts/Dubna/mn37rc4l">Dubna</a>, Russia, by a Russian–American collaboration in April 2010, which makes it the most recently discovered element. One of its <a href="/facts/Decay_product/hT0obfLv">daughter isotopes</a> was created directly in 2011, partially confirming the results of the experiment. The experiment itself was repeated successfully by the same collaboration in 2012 and by a joint German–American team in May 2014. In December 2015, the <a href="/facts/IUPAC/IUPAP_Joint_Working_Party/1mKaf9UW">Joint Working Party</a> of the <a href="/facts/International_Union_of_Pure_and_Applied_Chemistry/2AV6myCK">International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry</a> (IUPAC) and the <a href="/facts/International_Union_of_Pure_and_Applied_Physics/ah3BodlS">International Union of Pure and Applied Physics</a> (IUPAP), which evaluates claims of discovery of new elements, recognized the element and assigned the priority to the Russian–American team. In June 2016, the IUPAC published a declaration stating that the discoverers had suggested the name tennessine, a name which was officially adopted in November 2016.
Tennessine may be located in the "<a href="/facts/Island_of_stability/XuxQzqjL">island of stability</a>", a concept that explains why some superheavy elements are more stable despite an overall trend of decreasing stability for elements beyond <a href="/facts/Bismuth/75FLjkoX">bismuth</a> on the periodic table. The synthesized tennessine atoms have lasted tens and hundreds of <a href="/facts/Millisecond/xHCyv235">milliseconds</a>. In the periodic table, tennessine is expected to be a member of group 17, the <a href="/facts/Halogen/YeFgWHeA">halogens</a>. Some of its properties may differ significantly from those of the lighter halogens due to <a href="/facts/Relativistic_quantum_chemistry/8A1se1CS">relativistic effects</a>. As a result, tennessine is expected to be a volatile <a href="/facts/Metal/PT8hNX6R">metal</a> that neither forms <a href="/facts/Anion/wrbwhF3z">anions</a> nor achieves high <a href="/facts/Oxidation_state/W53W6s6V">oxidation states</a>. A few key properties, such as its melting and boiling points and its first <a href="/facts/Ionization_energy/lezUajfA">ionization energy</a>, are nevertheless expected to follow the <a href="/facts/Periodic_trends/dI0mkSju">periodic trends</a> of the halogens.

Tennessine open-in-new

Tennessine