Nova: Uncovering The Mysteries Of Element 114

Element 114, officially named flerovium with the symbol "Fl" after the Russian physicist Georgy Flyorov, was discovered in 1999 by a team of scientists at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia, in collaboration with researchers from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, USA.
The discovery of flerovium was the result of a series of experiments involving heavy ion collisions. Here is a brief overview of the discovery:
Target and Projectile: The scientists used a heavy ion accelerator at the JINR to accelerate a beam of calcium-48 (^48Ca) nuclei. This beam was then directed onto a target composed of a heavy element, typically plutonium-242 (^242Pu).
Nuclear Fusion: When the high-energy calcium-48 nuclei collide with the target nucleus, they occasionally fuse together to form a new, heavier nucleus. In one such collision event, the researchers observed the creation of an atom with 114 protons and approximately 175 neutrons.
Detection: The newly formed element, with 114 protons, was highly unstable and rapidly decayed into other lighter elements through a series of radioactive decay processes. Scientists detected these decay products and used the data to confirm the presence of element 114.
Confirmation: The discovery of element 114 was confirmed through a series of experiments, including the observation of its alpha decay, which produced known daughter nuclei, and subsequent verification by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP).
It's important to note that flerovium is a highly unstable element with a very short half-life, measured in milliseconds. As such, its practical applications are extremely limited, and its discovery is primarily of scientific interest, contributing to our understanding of the periodic table and the behavior of heavy and superheavy elements.
0:00 - 01:00 opening

[@DrDeuteron]

How old is the need video? It stops at Z=102, but Seaborgium was named in 1997 (Z=106).

[@sciencechemistry]

this video originally aired in 1999-2000. good thing it still holds up

[@DrDeuteron]

2:52 The stars got past uranium, it's just all decayed.

[@A.UNIVERSE.within]

I wonder what kind of stability blackholes and neutron stars may offer atomic nucleuses

[@gijbuis]

Seaborg sounds a bit like cyborg...

[@theoriginaldrdust]

mouldy video quality

[@sciencechemistry]

unfortunately, this video was never produced in HD

[@theoriginaldrdust]

@@sciencechemistry qordagle