What Is Flerovium

Flerovium (pronounced as flee-rove-ee-em) is a radioactive, synthetic metal with the symbol Fl ^[1]. Though the short half-lives of its five isotopes (mass numbers between 285 and 289) make it difficult to study, its chemical properties (as much could be observed) show it to behave as a metal and a noble gas.  That is why this element, along with Copernicium, has been categorized as a volatile metal. Fl belongs to the family of rare earth metals and shows less reactivity ^{[2, 3, 4, 10]}.

History

Origin of its Name: It is named after the Russian physicist Georgy Flerov, the founder of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) where the element was discovered ^{[1, 4]}.

Who Discovered it: It was discovered by Yuri Oganessian and Vladimir Utyonkov in 1998.

How was it Discovered

A team led by Oganessian and Utyonkov produced it for the first time at JINR in Dubna, Russia by bombarding plutonium with calcium. The reaction produced a single atom of flerovium-289, the most stable of its isotopes with a half-life of 2.1 seconds ^{[1, 3]}.

Position of the Element on the Periodic Table ^[1]

Group	14
Period	7
Block	p

Properties and Characteristics of Flerovium ^{[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9]}

General Properties
Relative atomic mass/ atomic weight	289
Physical Properties
Color/appearance	Silvery white or pale gray (estimated)
Odor	Unknown
Melting point/freezing point	Unknown
Boiling point	Unknown
Density	Unknown
State of matter at 200C (normal phase)	Solid (estimated)
Hardness	Unknown
Electrical conductivity	Unknown
Magnetic Properties
Magnetic ordering	Unknown
Magnetic susceptibility	Unknown
Chemical Properties
Oxidation number		Unknown
Oxidation state/Oxidation number		[+2], [+4]

Atomic Data of Flerovium ^{[1, 3, 5, 6, 8]}

Atomic number	114
Valence electrons	4
Quantum numbers
– n	7
– ℓ	1
– m ℓ	0
– m s	+½
Electron configuration (noble gas configuration)	[Rn] 5f146d107s27p2
Crystal structure	–
Atomic structure
– Number of Electrons	114
– Number of Neutrons	175
– Number of Protons	114
Energy levels
– First Energy Level	2
– Second Energy Level	8
– Third Energy Level	18
– Fourth Energy Level	32
– Fifth Energy Level	32
– Sixth Energy Level	18
– Seventh Energy Level	4
Radius of atom
– Atomic Radius (Å)	Unknown
– Covalent Radius (Å)	1.43
Electronegativity	Unknown
Ionization energy (kJmol-1)	Unknown

Flerovium Uses

As the element does not exist naturally and synthesized in small amounts only at the laboratory, it is used for research purposes ^[3].

Is it Harmful ^[4]

Being highly radioactive, exposure to it over a long period of time might be dangerous.

Interesting Facts

• It was called Ununquadium (Uuq) until IUPAC named it as flerovium in May, 2012 ^[4].
• Less than 100 atoms of flerovium have been created to date ^[7].

References
1. http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/114/flerovium
2. https://www.theguardian.com/science/grrlscientist/2013/nov/29/grrlscientist-elements-flerovium-114
3. https://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele114.html
4. https://www.chemicool.com/elements/flerovium.html
5. http://chemistry-reference.com/q_elements.asp?Symbol=Fl&language=en
6. http://periodictable.com/Elements/114/data.html
7. http://chemistry.saigon.ro/flerovium.html
8. https://periodictable.me/electronegativity-chart/
9. https://www.webelements.com/flerovium/compounds.html
10. http://hobart.k12.in.us/ksms/PeriodicTable/ununquadium.htm