Ununpentium facts for kids

Ununpentium is a special chemical element that scientists have made. It's also known by its older name, "eka-bismuth." Its symbol is Uup, and it has an atomic number of 115. This means it has 115 protons in its atoms. It is a very heavy element, sometimes called a "superheavy" element.

You won't find ununpentium naturally on Earth. It's a synthetic element, which means it's made by people in a lab. Scientists create it using a process called nuclear fusion. This is like smashing two smaller atoms together to make a bigger one. For ununpentium, they combine atoms of americium and calcium.

Scientists believe ununpentium is near something called the "island of stability." This is a theoretical idea where some very heavy elements might be more stable than others. So far, no stable forms (called isotopes) of ununpentium have been found. Scientists predict that a stable isotope of ununpentium would need 184 neutrons. The isotope they have made so far, called ²⁸⁸Uup, only has 173 neutrons. The predicted stable one would be ²⁹⁹Uup.

How Ununpentium Was Discovered

On February 2, 2004, a team of Russian scientists from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna and American scientists from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory announced something exciting. They published a report in a science journal called Physical Review C. In this report, they said they had successfully made ununpentium and another element called ununtrium.

These scientists explained that they "bombarded" (which means they shot tiny particles at) americium with calcium atoms. This process created four atoms of ununpentium.

Later, in May 2006, the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research made ununpentium again using a different method. They were also able to study what happened when these new atoms broke down, using chemical analysis. Scientists in Japan have also reported making ununpentium.

What's in a Name?

The name "Ununpentium" is a temporary name. It's given by the IUPAC (a group that names chemical elements) until a permanent name is chosen. It's based on Latin words for its atomic number, 115.

What Are Its Properties?

Scientists haven't made enough ununpentium to fully study its physical or chemical properties. However, they can make some educated guesses.

They think it would be a hard metal. It might have a low melting point, possibly around 250 °C (482 °F). It could also be slightly colored.

Ununpentium is in the same group on the periodic table as bismuth. But scientists believe its chemical properties will be quite different from bismuth. This is because of something called special relativity, which affects very heavy atoms in unique ways. One big difference is that ununpentium might have a stable form where it loses only one electron, becoming a Uup⁺ ion. This ion is thought to act chemically like the Tl⁺ ion.

Ununpentium in Pop Culture

Because ununpentium is linked to the idea of the "island of stability" (where superheavy elements might be more stable), it sometimes appears in popular culture. It's even been mentioned in some UFO conspiracy theories.

One well-known story about ununpentium comes from a person named Bob Lazar. He claimed that this element was used in advanced technology. While his claims are interesting, they are not supported by direct scientific evidence at this time.

Images for kids

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  A view of the famous Red Square in Moscow; the region around the city was honored by the discoverers as "the ancient Russian land that is the home of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research" and became the namesake of moscovium

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  The expected location of the island of stability. The dotted line is the line of beta stability.

See also

In Spanish: Moscovio para niños