Hassium

Hassium (eka-osmium) is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Hs and atomic number 108.It is a synthetic element whose most stable isotope is Hs-269, with a half-life of 9.7 seconds. It is predicted that Hassium will be the densest element yet known, with a density exceeding two and a half times that of lead. This assumes that a measurable quantity of the element can be made, which is practically impossible.

History

It was first synthesized in 1984 by a German research team led by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg at the Institute for Heavy Ion Research (Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung) in Darmstadt. The name hassium was proposed by them, derived from the Latin name for the German state of Hessen where the institute is located.

There was an element naming controversy as to what the elements from 101 to 109 were to be called; thus IUPAC adopted unniloctium (symbol Uno) as a temporary, systematic element name for this element. In 1994 a committee of IUPAC recommended that element 108 be named hahnium.The name hassium was adopted internationally, however, in 1997.

External links

*WebElements.com - Hassium
*Apsidium - Hs