Copernicium

Copernicium is a radioactive chemical element. It is currently the heaviest recognized element and has only recently been discovered. It is artificially synthesized which means that it was created in a lab and cannot be found in nature. Many of its properties are unknown, as well as its physical appearance. However, there are many assumptions and predictions as to its physical and chemical properties. Copernicium was originally called Ununbium and has been recently named copernicium and given the symbol Cn in honor of a well known scientist Nicolaus Copernicus. Only a few of copernicium's ions have been made, although researchers are certain there is more to be discovered about the new element, copernicium.

Properties
To begin, copernicium is a highly radioactive element that is currently classified under the metals. Copernicium's physical appearance and properties are (for the most part) not known. Copernicium's atomic mass number is 285 and its atomic number is 112 and it is in group 12, period 7 of the periodic table which puts it in the bottom right of the transition metals section. A lot of its properties are either estimated or simply "unknown". However, there are many estimates about its properties and reactions. For example, it is extremely volatile or reactive and could be a gas at regular temperatures. It is also predicted to be able to form metallic bonds, albeit weak ones. Copernicium is expected to be a solid at room temperature (which is characteristic of Transition Metals). Its properties are likened to those of the element Radon. The atomic weight for man-made elements like Copernicium is mostly based on isotopes of that element that have the longest half-life. However, this number could change in the future due to the fact that new isotopes with longer half-lives could be discovered.

There are no isotopes of copernicium that are stable or naturally occurring. The atoms of Copernicium that were created decayed to darmstadtium (element 110- another artificial element) in 0.24 millisecond. Copernicium's longest lasting isotope is isotope 285. It has a half life of approximately 34 seconds. Copernicium is officially the heaviest element recognized by IUPAC, (277 times heavier that hydrogen).

Synthesis
Since copernicium is an artificial element, it has to have been created in a lab. Copernicium was made by fusing two atoms. Researchers accomplished this by firing zinc-70 at lead-208 nuclei in a special machine called a heavy ion accelerator. Only a few of Copernicium's atoms were created in this way. Copernicium-277 was made using Gas-Filled Recoil Separator. Two more of Coperrnicium's atoms were synthesized in this way and the scientists also confirmed decay data using this method. The specific type of particle accelerator that was used was a linear particle accelerator. These machines work by utilizing the electromagnetic field to bring certain charged  particles (such as zinc, in copernicium's case) to a very high speed and then direct them in a beam toward a target (for example, lead). This type of machine is typically referred to as a particle collider and has even been called an "atom smasher". A Gas-Filled Recoil Separator which also may be called a Spectrometer for Heavy Atom and Nuclear Structure works just like the title prompts. A chamber is filled with a gas (usually helium) and a certain amount of pressure in order to study atoms such as copernicium's.

Discovery/Naming
copernicium, along with Darmstadtium and Roentgenium are called Transuranium or "Super Heavy" elements. Copernicium, (temporary name, Ununbium) is so unstable that it cannot be found anywhere in nature. It was made in a lab, specifically GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research which is located in Darmstadt, Germany. The first atom of coperrnicium was created on February 9, 1996. Sigurd Hofmann was the head of the discovery team that made and recognized element number 112. copernicium is the sixth element named by GSI. Originally, the symbol was to be "Cp", but since this abbreviation has other scientific meanings, it was then decided to be Cn. The element copernicium is named after the Polish scientist Nicolaus Copernicus. They even announced the name on February 19th, which is his date of birth. The name goes along with the trend of elements being named after influential scientists. Also, similarities have been drawn between Copernicus' planetary model (with objects moving around a common center) and Bohr's model of the nuclear atom in which electrons orbit the nucleus.

Video
Explanation of copernicuim (element 112) |QHcbQfcwegY