Quarter 1 – Lesson 2: Concept of Atomic Number Led to the Synthesis of New Elements in the Laboratory

Learning Objectives:

1. explain how the concept of atomic number led to the synthesis of new elements in the laboratory;
2. identify the different elements formed after the process of synthesis;
3. realize the importance of the atomic number in identifying the new element’s identity in the periodic table. explain
stellar nucleosynthesis;

Discussion:
Elements are made up of tiny particles, the neutron, proton and electron. Hydrogen and Helium are the
elements that exist in the early beginning. Early in the Big Bang, it was a tiny elementary particle. As the Universe
expanded and cooled, there was a period of proton-proton chain reaction wherein protons were fuse into Helium. The
Universe ran into a problem. Red giant cores get past this via the Triple-Alpha process, but the Universe expands right
through this possibility and the density/temperature are quickly too low to synthesis any additional elements.

All matter in the universe is made from tiny building blocks called atoms. All modern scientists accept the
concept of the atom, but when the concept of the atom was first proposed about 2,500 years ago, ancient philosophers
laughed at the idea. It has always been difficult to convince people of the existence of things that are too small to see.

How the different elements on the periodic table were formed, known and identified?

There is what we call Big Bang Theory that has some key stages: Singularity, Inflation, Nucleosynthesis and
Recombination.

1) Singularity is a one-dimensional point which contains a huge mass in an infinitely small space, where density and
gravity become infinite and space-time curves infinitely, and where the laws of physics as we know them cease
to operate.
2) The basic homogeneity in distribution of matter in the universe was established as a consequence of the first
phase of inflation.
3) Nucleosynthesis was the nuclear fusion and the formation of new nuclei actions in the early stages of
development of the universe.
4) Recombination - the formation of the capture of free electrons by the cations in a plasma.

Henry Gwyn-Jeffreys Moseley

 He was an English physicist whose experiment demonstrated that the major properties of an element are
determined by the atomic number, not by the atomic weight, and firmly established the relationship between atomic
number and the charge of the atomic nucleus. Henry Moseley was a researcher at Rutherford’s laboratory.
 In 1913, Moseley used Rutherford’s work to advance the understanding of the elements and solve the problem with
Mendeleev’s periodic table. Moseley noticed that shooting electrons at elements caused them to release x-rays at
unique frequencies. He also noticed that the frequency increased by a certain amount when the “positive charge” of
the chosen element was higher.
 By arranging the elements according to the square root of the frequency they emitted, he was able to draw out an
arrangement of elements that more correctly predicted periodic trends.
 Mention the experimental evidence he gave to an existing hypothesis: that the elements’ atomic number, or place in
the periodic table, was uniquely tied to their “positive charge”, or the number of protons they had. This discovery
allowed for a better arrangement of the periodic table, and predicted elements that were not yet discovered. His
method of identifying elements by shooting electrons and looking at x-rays became a very useful tool in
characterizing elements, and is now called x-ray spectroscopy.
 He used X-ray spectroscopy to determine the atomic number of an element. He bombarded a beam of electrons to
different elements and measured their X-ray spectral lines. His results clearly showed that frequency of the X-rays
 given off by an element was mathematically related to the position of that element in the Periodic table. The
frequency is proportional to the charge of the nucleus, or the atomic number.
 In 1925, there were four vacancies in the periodic table corresponding to the atomic numbers 43, 61, 85, and 87.
Elements with atomic numbers 43 and 85 were synthesized using particle accelerators. A particle accelerator is a
device that is used to speed up the protons to overcome the repulsion between the protons and the target atomic
nuclei by using magnetic and electrical fields. It is used to synthesize new elements.( nuclear transmutations)
 When the elements were arranged according to their atomic numbers, there were four gaps in the table. These gaps
corresponded to the atomic numbers 43, 61, 85, and 87. These elements were later synthesized in the laboratory
through nuclear transmutations.
 Elements with atomic numbers greater than 92 (atomic number of uranium) are called trans uranium elements.
They were discovered in the laboratory using nuclear reactors or particle accelerators.

Dmitri Mendeleev

 created a classification of elements based on their atomic weight. He found that organizing the elements at the time
by their calculated weight demonstrated a periodic pattern of both physical and chemical properties, such as luster,
physical state, reactivity to water, and others.
 Referred as Father of periodic table of Elements.

Discovery of Nuclear Transmutation

In 1919, Ernest Rutherford successfully carried out a nuclear transmutation reaction — a reaction involving the
transformation of one element or isotope into another element. The first nuclide to be prepared by artificial means was
an isotope of oxygen, 17O. It was made by Ernest Rutherford in 1919 by bombarding nitrogen atoms with α particles.

However, both alpha particles and atomic nuclei are positively charged, so they tend to repel each other.
Therefore, instead of using fast-moving alpha particles in synthesizing new elements, atomic nuclei are often bombarded
with neutrons (neutral particles) in particle accelerators.

James Chadwick discovered the neutron in 1932, as a previously unknown neutral particle produced along with
the nuclear reaction between 9Be and 4He.

The first element to be prepared that does not occur naturally on the earth, technetium, was created by
bombardment of molybdenum by deuterons (heavy hydrogen, H12), by Emilio Segre and Carlo Perrier in 1937.

The first controlled nuclear chain reaction was carried out in a reactor at the University of Chicago in 1942.

The Discovery of the Missing Elements

Recall that in 1925, there were four vacancies in the periodic table corresponding to the atomic numbers 43, 61,
85, and 87. Two of these elements were synthesized in the laboratory using particle accelerators. A particle accelerator is
a device that is used to speed up the protons to overcome the repulsion between the protons and the target atomic
nuclei by using magnetic and electrical fields. It is used to synthesize new elements. In 1937, American physicist Ernest
Lawrence synthesized element with atomic number 43 using a linear particle accelerator. He bombarded molybdenum
(Z=42) with fast-moving neutrons. The newly synthesized element was named Technetium (Tc) after the Greek word
"technêtos" meaning “artificial.” Tc was the first man-made element.

In 1940, Dale Corson, K. Mackenzie, and Emilio Segre discovered element with atomic number 85. They
bombarded atoms of bismuth (Z=83) with fast-moving alpha particles in a cyclotron. A cyclotron is a particle accelerator
that uses alternating electric field to accelerate particles that move in a spiral path in the presence of a magnetic field.
Element-85 was named astatine from the Greek word “astatos” meaning unstable.

The two other elements with atomic numbers 61 and 87 were discovered through studies in radioactivity.
Element-61 (Promethium) was discovered as a decay product of the fission of uranium while element-87 (Francium) was
discovered as a breakdown product of uranium.
The Synthesis of the Elements

 The invention of the device called cyclotron paved the way for transmuting one element into another artificially. The
high-energy particles that are produced from the cyclotron upon hitting heavy target nuclei produce heavier nuclei.
 The Universe ran into the Be problem. Red giant cores get past this via the Triple-Alpha process, but the Universe
expands right through this possibility and the density/temperature are quickly too low to synthesis any additional
elements.

Big Bang Nucleosynthesis

 The oldest stars in the Galaxy are deficient in the abundance of elements heavier than Helium (but show the
predicted amount of He)
 The current record holder has Fe/H about 130,000 times smaller than the solar value.
 Not quite down to Big Bang abundances, but we are getting pretty close and still looking.

Chemical Evolution of the Universe

 Chemical Evolution

• Low-mass stars synthesize `new’ He, C, O during the main-sequence, RGB, HB and AGB phases.
• These freshly minted elements are brought to the surface via convection and redistributed via stellar winds and
planetary nebulae into the interstellar medium to be incorporated into later generations of stars.

 Chemical Evolution II
• For more massive stars, `equilibrium’ fusion reactions produce elements all the way up to Fe.
• Freshly made elements are delivered via stellar winds or, sometimes more spectacularly via supernova explosions

 Chemical Evolution III

What about the trans-Fe elements?

• Equilibrium fusion reactions of light elements don’t proceed past Fe because of Fe’s location at the peak of the curve of
binding energy.
• However, in certain circumstances, supernovae for example, non-equilibrium reactions can build elements beyond Fe
in the Periodic Table. Many of these are radioactive, but some are stable.

Neutron Capture Elements

• There are two principal paths to building the elements heavier than Fe. Both use the addition of neutrons to existing
`seed’ nuclei (neutrons have no charge so are much easier to add to positively-charged nuclei).

S-process (slow addition of neutrons)

• The S-process stands for the Slow addition of neutrons to nuclei. The addition of a no produces heavier isotope of a
particular element. However, if an electron is emitted (this is called beta-decay), the nucleus moves one step up the
periodic table.
• `Slow’ here means that rate of no captures is low compared to the beta-decay rate.
• It really is slow. Sometimes 100’s of years goes by between neutron captures.
The R-process

• The R-process is the Rapid addition of neutrons to existing nuclei. Rapid here means that many neutrons are added
before a beta-decay occurs.

• First build up a VERY heavy isotope, then, as beta-decays occur, you march up in atomic number and produce the
REALLY HEAVY STUFF.

The Transuranic Elements

 In the 1930s, the heaviest element known was uranium, with an atomic number 92. Early in 1940, Edwin
McMillan proved that an element having an atomic number 93could be created. He used a particle accelerator to
bombard uranium with neutrons and created an element with an atomic number 93 which he named
neptunium.
 Transuranic elements are synthetic elements with atomic numbers higher than that of Uranium (Z = 92).
 At the end of 1940, element-94 was synthesized by Seaborg, McMillan, Kennedy, and Wahl. They bombarded
uranium with deuterons (particles composed of a proton and a neutron) in a cyclotron. Element-94 was named
plutonium. Elements with atomic numbers greater than 92 (atomic number of uranium) are called transuranium
elements. Hence, neptunium and plutonium are both transuranium elements. They are unstable and decay
radioactively into other elements. All these elements were discovered in the laboratory as artificially generated
synthetic elements. They are prepared using nuclear reactors or particle accelerators. In the next lesson, you will
learn the nuclear reactions involved in the synthesis of these transuranium elements.

Stellar nucleosynthesis

 This is the process by which elements are created within stars by combining the protons and neutrons together
from the nuclei of lighter elements. Fusion inside stars transforms hydrogen into helium, heat, and radiation.
Heavier elements are created in different types of stars as they die or explode.

The Superheavy Elements

 Superheavy elements are elements with atomic numbers beyond 103. These are produced by bombarding heavy
nuclear targets with accelerated heavy projectiles.
 The first naturally occurring unstable element that was isolated, polonium, was discovered by the Polish scientist
Marie Curie and her husband Pierre in 1898.