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It's Elemental

The Element Copernicium

[Click for Isotope Data]

Copernicium

112 Cn Copernicium 285

Atomic Number: 112

Atomic Weight: 285

Melting Point: Unknown

Boiling Point: Unknown

Density: Unknown

Phase at Room Temperature: Expected to be a Solid

Element Classification: Metal

Period Number: 7

Group Number: 12

Group Name: none

Special Notes: Radioactive and Artificially Produced

What's in a name? Named after the astronomer and mathematician Nicolaus Copernicus.

Say what? Copernicium is pronounced as kogh-per-NEE-see-em.

History and Uses:

Copernicium was first produced by Peter Armbruster, Gottfried Münzenber and their team working at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany on February 9, 1996. They bombarded atoms of lead with ions of zinc with a device known as a linear accelerator. This produced atoms of copernicium-277, an isotope with a half-life of about 0.24 milliseconds (0.00024 seconds).

Copernicium's most stable isotope, copernicium-285, has a half-life of about 30 seconds. It decays into darmstadtium-281 through alpha decay.

Since only a few atoms of copernicium have ever been produced, it currently has no uses outside of basic scientific research.

Originally, the symbol Cp was recommended for Copernicium. That symbol was rejected because Cp had previously been used for the element lutetium which, prior to 1949, had cassiopeium as an alternative allowed name. Please see this file for additional details.

Estimated Crustal Abundance: Not Applicable

Estimated Oceanic Abundance: Not Applicable

Number of Stable Isotopes: 0 (View all isotope data)

Ionization Energy: Unknown

Oxidation States: Unknown

Electron Shell Configuration:

1s2

(Unconfirmed)

2s2   2p6

3s2   3p6   3d10

4s2   4p6   4d10   4f14

5s2   5p6   5d10   5f14

6s2   6p6   6d10

7s2

Citation and linking information

For questions about this page, please contact Carol McKisson.