Darmstadtium

Darmstadtium (pronounced /dɑrmˈʃtætiəm/), formerly called ununnilium (/ˌjuːnənˈnɪliəm/, symbol Uun) or eka-platinum, is a chemical element with the symbol Ds and atomic number 110. It is one of the so-called super-heavy atoms. This synthetic element quickly decays: its isotopes of mass 267 to 273 have half-lives measured in microseconds. Heavier isotopes of darmstadtium, of mass 279 and 281, were synthesized later and are more stable, with half-lives of 180 milliseconds and 11.1 seconds, respectively.

Darmstadtium was first created on November 9, 1994 at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) in Arheiligen, a northern suburb of Darmstadt, Germany by a team headed by Dr. Jorge Rigol. A few atoms of it were produced by a nuclear fusion reaction caused by bombarding a lead target with nickel:^[1]

$\,^{208}_{82}\mathrm{Pb} + \,^{62}_{28}\mathrm{Ni} \, \to \,^{269}_{110}\mathrm{Ds} + \; ^1_0\mathrm{n} \;$

The element was named after the place of its discovery, Darmstadt. The new name was given to it by the IUPAC on August 16, 2003.

Because the telephone number of the police is 110 within Germany, the element has also earned the nickname of "policium".

^ Holleman, A. F.; Wiberg, E. "Inorganic Chemistry" Academic Press: San Diego, 2001. ISBN 0-12-352651-5.

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