Synthesis of Elements

The invention of the device called cyclotron

 The invention of the device called cyclotron
paved the way for transmuting one element
into another artificially
 The high-energy particles that are produced
from the cyclotron upon hitting heavy target
nuclei produce heavier nuclei.
 What is a cyclotron?
 The cyclotron is one of the earliest particle accelerator.
Common Particles Encountered in Nuclear
Reactions
• In addition to the particles in the table below, protons,
deuterons  1
1 H
,and  tritons  2
H
are 1commonly
 1 H  in nuclear reactions
3
encountered
 Using the cyclotron
 The bombarding of Mo(Molybdenum) with
deuteron formed technetium which is the first
artificially made element. Its name is derived from
the Greek word technetos which means artificial .

96
42 Mo + 2
1H —>
97
43 Tc + 1
0n
 Nuclear Reactions
 In 1919 Ernest Rutherford produced the first
nuclear reaction by bombarding 14N with alpha
particles
 The result was an artificial transmutation of a
nitrogen isotope into an oxygen isotope

4 14 17 1
2 He  N  O  H
7 8 1
 Nuclear Reaction – General Form
 Note that the conservation of mass number and conservation of
atomic number holds in nuclear reactions, just like in nuclear decay

4 14 17 1
2He  N  O  H
7 8 1
 18 = total mass # on each side
 9 = total atomic # on each side
 The general form for a nuclear reaction is
a+AB+b
 a is the particle that bombards A to form nucleus B and emitted
particle b
 The Transuranic Elements
 Transuranic elements are synthetic elements with atomic
numbers higher than that of Uranium (Z = 92).

Neptunium (Z = 93) – synthesized by E.M. MacMillan in 1940

Plutonium (Z = 94)

The Superheavy Elements

Superheavy elements are elements with atomic numbers beyond 103. These are
produced by bombarding heavy nuclear targets with accelerated heavy projectiles.

Bohrium (Z = 107) – projectile used was Cr

 Completing an Equation for a
Nuclear Reaction – Example
1 7 1
1 H  Li  ?  n
3 0
• Note, the sum of the mass #’s on left = 8.
• The mass # on the right must also = 8, therefore
the missing particle must have a mass # = 7.
• The sum of the atomic #’s on left = 4
• Therefore the sum of the atomic #’s on right
must also equal 4.
 1
1 H  73 Li  ?  01 n
 The missing particle must have an atomic number = 4
 Therefore the missing particle has a mass number of 7 and an
atomic number of 4.
 This element is 74Be (beryllium).
 Completed equation 

1
1 H  73 Li  74 Be  01 n
2
1 H  27
13 Al  ?  4
2 He

 Complete the equation for the deuteron

bombardment of aluminum-27.
2 27 25 4
1 H  Al  Mg  He
13 12 2
 Rutherford’s discovery of the transmutation of 14N
into 17O was actually an accident!
 But the implications of this discovery were
enormous!
 One element could now be changed into another
completely different element!
 Write the nuclear reactions involved in the synthesis of each of
the following new elements.

 Curium (Z = 96) was formed by

reacting Pu – 239 with alpha particles.
It has a half-life of 162 days.
 42He+ 23994Pu 242
96 Cm+10n
 Mendelevium (Z = 101) was formed by reacting Es
– 253 with alpha particles.

 Meitnerium (Z = 109) was formed by cold fusion

which involves the combination of Bi and Fe
nuclides at ordinary temperature