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Subject: Re: Element 114: confirmed
From: "eric scerri" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, September 30, 2009 3:50 am
To: [log in to unmask]
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Thanks for the heads-up Bob.
One interesting prediction for this element, although it will require the
synthesis of a good deal more atoms, is that element 114 might behave like
mercury and, if so, might also be a liquid at room temperature.
This idea comes from Michael Laing's 'Knight's Move Relationship' which
couples together several pairs of elements whose positions on the periodic
table are related like a knight's move in chess.
The best example is perhaps zinc and tin.
Here is a short excerpt from my book,
The knight’s move relationship is perhaps the most mysterious one among
all the unusual relationships involving the periodic table (figure 10.11).
It takes its name from the knight’s move in the game of chess, meaning a
move of one step in any direction followed by two steps in a direction at
right angles to the first movement. The South African chemist Michael
Laing discovered such a relationship among the elements and has described
it in detail in a number of articles.
The examples of the knight’s move relationship so far discovered are
located at the heart of the medium-long–form table among metallic
elements. Consider the elements zinc and tin. Both are commonly used
for plating steel such as in the case of food cans. Not only do layers
of both metals successfully delay the onset of corrosion in the iron,
but they are also nonpoisonous, unlike many other metals lying close to
them in the periodic table.
Zinc and tin are not merely nonpoisonous but also appear to be
biologically important. Zinc is an essential element for many
living organisms because it occurs in a variety of important enzymes. Tin
is not essential to humans although it may be so for some living
organisms, a fact that has yet to be settled. The compounds of tin are
generally regarded as being nontoxic with the exception of organotin
compounds such as trimethyl tin. Nevertheless, tin is found in many
medicines and even in toothpaste in the form of stannous fluoride, which
it is claimed can prevent tooth cavities.
The section on the Knight's Move relationship is from p. 272-275 inclusive.
As far as I know a theoretical account of why the KMR occurs has still not
been found.
all the best
eric scerri
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from Bob Bruner
Lawrence Berkeley Lab (LBL) has announced publication of an independent
confirmation of element 114. They made two nuclei: one of each of two
isotopes.
Presumably this will allow consideration of whether to officially
recognize 114 as a new element.
Their press release:
http://newscenter.lbl.gov/press-releases/2009/09/24/114-confirmed/
It has a link to the article (in Phys Rev Lett). (If anyone without access
to the paper wants a copy, please email me off-list.)
This item was featured on the front page of the school paper today --
above the fold! And presumably thanks to the superb training of the Daily
Cal reporter who interviewed the lead scientist, we learn that LBL does
not expect to make a profit on this work at this time.
bob
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Eric Scerri, The Periodic Table, Its Story and Its Significance,
Oxford University Press, 2007.
http://www.us.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Chemistry/?view=usa&ci=9780195305739
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Eric Scerri, The Periodic Table, Its Story and Its Significance,
Oxford University Press, 2007.
http://www.us.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Chemistry/?view=usa&ci=9780195305739
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