Element

Hassium Element Properties and Information

Published August 20, 2022 · Updated August 28, 2022

Hassium Element Properties and Information

Hassium is 108^th element on the periodic table. Elements are arranged in the periodic table on the basis of the atomic number. Atomic number is the number of protons in the nucleus of the atom. Hassium has an atomic number of 108. It is located in the Group 8 and Period 7 of the periodic table of elements and denoted by the symbol ‘Hs’. Hassium is named after the German state, Hesse, where it was made for the first time.

Hassium synthesis was first attempted by a team led by Yuri Oganessian and Vladimir Utyonkov at the Joint Institute of Nuclear Research (JNIR) in 1978; they bombarded radium with calcium to get isotope-270 of the element-107. By 1983, they obtained isotope-263 and isotope-264 of the element-107: isotope-263 was made by bombarding bismuth with manganese and isotope-264 was made by bombarding californium with neon. A team led by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg at the Geselleschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) produced isotope-264 of element-107 in 1984 by bombarding lead with iron; it was they who named the element after the German state of Hesse because the findings of GSI were relatively more reliable than JNIR. Hassium does not occur naturally in Earth’s crust; it can only be prepared in a synthetic manner in particle accelerators. It cannot even be prepared in a nuclear reactor. All the isotopes of hassium which have been characterized so far have been obtained synthetically. Although it doesn’t occur naturally, hassium is theorized to have once existed on Earth.

Physical Properties

Hassium is an extremely radioactive element with all its isotopes having very short half-lives.
The atomic mass of hassium is 264.8.
The melting point of hassium is unknown as of yet.
The boiling point of hassium is unknown as of yet.
The density of hassium is unknown as of yet.
Hassium is expected to be a solid at room temperature.
Hassium is predicted to assume a hexagonal close-packed structure.
The longest lived hassium isotope has a half-life of approximately 10 seconds.

Chemical Properties

Hassium properties are known largely through theoretical predictions though some of the properties have been verified experimentally by gas-phase chemistry.
Most stable hassium compounds are expected to display an oxidation state of ‘+8’.
Hassium compounds are expected to posses lower oxidation states, +6, +4, +3, and +2, but such compounds are predicted to be less stable.

Methods of Production

Particle Accelerators: All the elements which have atomic number greater than 100 can only be prepared through reactions in a particle accelerator such as a cyclotron; they are not formed in a nuclear reactor. Lead-208 bombarded with ferrous-54 yields hassium-264.