Description
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Darmstadtium is a synthetic element that is a transition metal. It is predicted to be a silver or metallic grey color in its predicted solid state. Darmstadtium has an atomic weight of 282, and the melting points and boiling points are not yet known. The chemical traits of darmstadtium have not been confirmed, but it is predicted to have similar chemical characteristics to the element platinum; for this reason darmstadtium is sometimes referred to as eka-platinum. There are no current commercial uses, or any predicted uses, for darmstadtium.
Isolation
Darmstadtium does not exist in nature in any type of form. It can only be synthesized in very minute quantities using specialized equipment and procedures.
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Darmstadtium has only been produced a few times. The study of this element is seriously hindered due to the fact that the isotopic forms of darmstadtium decay so quickly; the isotopes of darmstadtium, numbers 267 to 273, have a half life that is so short that it has to be measured using microseconds. Other heavier isotopes have been synthesized, numbers 279 and 281, and these isotopes are considered to be more stable; isotope number 279 has a half life of 180 milliseconds, and isotope number 281 has a half life of 11.1 seconds.
Darmstadtium was not synthesized until 1994. At this time, researchers were able to produce just a few atoms of darmstadtium using the process of nuclear fusion that was carried out in a nuclear reactor. During the process, a target composed of an isotopic form of lead, number 208, was bombarded with an isotopic form of nickel, number 62, to produce the isotope of darmstadtium, number 269, and one neutron.