Mark Steinberg, age 12, of Des Moines, Iowa, for his question:
What do we know about element 104?
When nuclear researchers find element 104, its atoms are not likely to stay around long enough to say Hello. They will be huge and heavy and highly unstable. Nobody has predicted the precise half life of this element, but its radioactive atoms are expected to break apart and decay into smaller atoms in the merest fraction of a moment.
Nature uses 92 different atoms to make and remake the solids, liquids and gases normally present in our world. Nuclear physicists have created more elements in atom smashers and added eleven synthetic ones to the list. There was no problem in identi¬fying these newcomers. The experts knew exactly where each should be placed on the Periodic Table of elements. In fact, a slot on this precise chart was waiting for each one of them. The last of the eleven lawrencium, was identified in 1961 and promptly placed in the square reserved for element number 103. Only a few of its heavy radioactive atoms have been found and they quickly decay into smaller atoms of other elements.
The atomic number spells out the number of protons in an atom's nucleus. Normally this number of positive particles is balanced by an equal number of negatively charged electrons orbiting the nucleus. The number of electrons increases with the number of protons and the nuclei of increasingly large atoms are stuffed with increasing numbers of neutrons. The chemical nature and behavior of an atom depends upon its electrons and the orbit shells in which they are arranged around the nucleus. The electrons determine what an element looks like, its character and how it reacts with other ele¬ments. And its number of electrons normally tallies with its atomic number of protons.
From these and other known atomic factors we can predict quite a lot about the undiscovered element number 104. Lawrencium 103 was the 15th and last member of the actinide family of elements. The extra proton in 104 will disqualify it from this chemical group. It is expected to resemble a family of transition metallic elements that includes zirconium, hafnium and titanium. These elements do not react with great chemical energy, but with other metals they form extra hard alloys. Titanium makes superb light weight parts for supersonic air craft, and zirconium and hafnium are used to soak up surplus neutrons and control chain reaction in nuclear reactors. But Element 104 will never be used in these ways.
Larger atoms tend to be unstable, and all those with numbers higher than 92 are radioactive. Element 104 will have 104 protons plus goodness knows how many extra neutrons in its top heavy nucleus. In a brief moment its nucleus will break into smaller pieces and in the process, some of its matter will be converted into dynamic nuclear energy.
The synthetic elements have been created in atom smashers by using atomic particles to bombard the nuclei of larger atoms. To create 103, boron nuclei were whipped to frenzied speeds and aimed at targets of californium. The boron ions have five protons apiece, the californium atoms have 98. The missiles that struck formed nuclei with 103 protons. Nuclear physicists may create element 104 by bombarding plutonium 94 with neon ions that contain 10 protons. But the heavy new atoms of 104 are expected to decay in perhaps a fraction of a second.