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It's Elemental

The Element Moscovium

[Click for Isotope Data]

Moscovium

115 Mc Moscovium 289

Atomic Number: 115

Atomic Weight: 289

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: 15

Group Name: Pnictogen

Special Notes: Radioactive and Artificially Produced

What's in a name? Named for the Moscow region of Russia.

Say what? Moscovium is pronounced as moss-KO-vee-um.

History and Uses:

On February 2, 2004, scientists working at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, along with scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, announced the creation of moscovium. In experiments performed between July 14, 2003 and August 10, 2003, atoms of americium-243 were bombarded with ions of calcium-48 using a device called a cyclotron. This produced one atom of moscovium-287 and three atoms of moscovium-288. All four atoms quickly decayed into other elements.

Moscovium's most stable isotope, moscovium-289, has a half-life of about 220 milliseconds. It decays into nihonium-285 through alpha decay.

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

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   7p3

Citation and linking information

For questions about this page, please contact Carol McKisson.