Concept Of Atomic

Number Led To The

Synthesis Of New
Elements In The
Laboratory
Ma’am Jeng Jeng S. Villalobos
PHY.SCI. teacher
1. What is stellar nucleosynthesis?
2. How will you describe the different stages of
the life cycle of stars?
3. What are the different heavy elements formed
in each stage of star cycle?
What are the two words that you can form from these
pictures?
At the end of the lesson, you will be able to:
1. Explain how the concept of atomic number led to the
synthesis of new elements in the laboratory.
2. Identify the different elements formed after the process
of synthesis.
3. Realize the importance of the atomic number in
identifying the new elements identity in the periodic
table.
 Label the parts of an atom on the diagram below. Then, answer the given questions.

___________1. What part of the atom

has no charge?
___________2. What part of the atom
has a positive charge?
___________3. What part of the atom
has a negative charge?
___________4. The atomic number is
the same as the number of what
particles?
___________5. By which particles the
mass number is determined
 How the different elements on the periodic
table were formed?
● Big Bang Theory
● Singularity, Inflation, Nucleosynthesis and Recombination
● Singularity is a one-dimensional point which contains a huge
mass in an infinitely small space, where density and gravity
become infinite and space-time curves infinitely, and where the
laws of physics as we know them cease to operate.
● The basic homogeneity in distribution of matter in the universe was
established as a consequence of the first phase of inflation.
● Nucleosynthesis was the nuclear fusion and the formation of new
nuclei actions in the early stages of development of the universe.
● Recombination - the formation of the capture of free electrons by
the cations in a plasma.
 Key Points
01 02 03

The atomic Henry Gwyn-Jeffreys In 1919, Ernest

number is the Moseley was an Rutherford
number of English physicist who successfully carried
protons demonstrated that the out a nuclear
(positively atomic number, the transmutation
charged number of protons in reaction a process
particles) in an an atom, determines of transforming one
atom. most of the element or isotope
properties of an into another
element. element.
 Key Points
04 05 06
In 1925, there were
four vacancies in the A particle accelerator Elements with atomic
periodic table is a device that is used numbers greater than
corresponding to the to speed up the 92 (atomic number of
atomic numbers 43, protons to overcome uranium) are called
61, 85, and 87. the repulsion between trans uranium
Elements with atomic the protons and the elements. They were
numbers 43 and 85 target atomic nuclei by discovered in the
were synthesized using magnetic and laboratory using
using particle electrical fields. It is nuclear reactors or
accelerators. used to synthesize particle accelerators.
new elements.
 Dmitri
Mendeleev
● Father of Periodic Table
● Classify the elements based on
their atomic weight
● Physical and chemical properties
● As luster, physical state, reactivity
to water, and others.
 Henry Moseley
• English physicist whose experiment
demonstrated that the major
properties of an element
• atomic number not by the atomic
weight
• atomic number and the charge of the
atomic nucleus.
• a researcher at Rutherford’s
laboratory.
 Henry Moseley
• In 1913, Moseley used Rutherford’s work to
advance the understanding of the elements and
solve the problem with Mendeleev’s periodic table.
• frequency increased by a certain amount when the
“positive charge” of the chosen element was higher.
• hypothesis: that the elements’ atomic number, or
place in the periodic table, was uniquely tied to
their “positive charge”, or the number of protons
they had.
• x-ray spectroscopy
 Activity 1.1 Making Your Own Periodic
Table
Make your own periodic table using the hypothetical elements that are
given in the clues. Explain the word/s that will be formed if you arrange
the symbols of the elements correctly.

a. P and Pr both have one electron each. Pr has a bigger atomic

size.
b. Od, Ri, and E are in the same series as P, C, and I. In terms
of atomic size, P is the biggest while C is the smallest. E is a
metal while I is a non-metal. Od is smaller than Ri in atomic
size.
c. O has a bigger atomic size than E in the same group. Y is
also a bigger atom than C in the same group. R is more
nonmetallic than Pe but more metallic than Ti.
PERIDIC TRENDS
What is an X-ray
Spectroscopy?
• is a technique that detects and
measures photons, or particles of
light, that have wavelengths in the X-
ray portion of the electromagnetic
spectrum. It's used to help scientists
understand the chemical and
elemental properties of an object.
Discovery of Nuclear
Transmutation
 Nuclear Transmutation
• Father of Nuclear Physics
• In 1919, Ernest Rutherford
successfully carried out a
nuclear transmutation
reaction
• A reaction involving the
transformation of one element
or isotope into another element
Nuclear Transmutation

The first nuclide to be

prepared by artificial means
was an isotope of oxygen,
17O
 James Chadwick
• discovered the neutron in
1932, as a previously unknown
neutral particle produced
along with 12C by the nuclear
reaction between 9Be and
4He:
 widely used for medical diagnostic studies.
Several chemical forms are used to image
different parts of the body. Technetium is a
• The first element to be remarkable corrosion inhibitor for steel, and
prepared that does not adding very small amounts can provide
occur naturally on the excellent protection.
earth, technetium, was
created by bombardment
of molybdenum by
• The first controlled nuclear chain reaction
deuterons (heavy
was carried out in a reactor at the
hydrogen, H12), by Emilio
University of Chicago in 1942. One of the
Segre and Carlo Perrier in
many reactions involved was:
1937:
The Discovery of Missing Elements
● 1925, there were four vacancies in the periodic table
● Particle accelerators
● It is a device that is used to speed up the protons to
overcome the repulsion between the protons and the
target atomic nuclei by using magnetic and electrical
fields.
● In 1937, American physicist Ernest Lawrence
synthesized element with atomic number 43 using a
linear particle accelerator
● molybdenum (Z=42)
● Technetium (Tc)
● "technêtos" meaning “artificial”
● Tc was the first man-made element.
● The bombarding of Mo with deuteron formed
technicium which is the first artificially made element.
 The Discovery of Astatine
● 1940, Dale Corson, K. Mackenzie, and
Emilio Segre
● They discovered element with atomic
number 85
● A cyclotron is a particle accelerator that
uses alternating electric field to
accelerate particles that move in a spiral
path in the presence of a magnetic field.
● Element 85 was named astatine from
the Greek word “astatos” meaning
unstable.
Discovery of element 61 and 87
• Discovered through studies in
radioactivity
• Element-61 (Promethium) was
discovered as a decay product o
the fission of uranium
• Element-87 (Francium) was
discovered as a breakdown
product of uranium.
The Synthesis of the Elements

• Device called cyclotron

paved the way for
transmuting one
element into another
artificially
 The Synthesis of the Elements
Big Bang Nucleosynthesis
 The oldest stars in the Galaxy are deficient in
the abundance of elements heavier than
Helium (but show the predicted amount of
He)
 Not quite down to Big Bang abundances, but
we are getting pretty close and still looking.
 The Synthesis of the Elements

Chemical Evolution
 Low-mass stars synthesize `new’ He, C, O during the
main sequence, RGB (red-giant branch), HB (horizontal
branch) and AGB (Asymptotic Giant Branch)phases.

 These freshly minted elements are brought to the

surface via convection and redistributed via stellar
winds and planetary nebulae into the interstellar
medium to be incorporated into later generations of
stars.
 The Synthesis of the Elements

Chemical Evolution II
 For more massive stars, `equilibrium’ fusion
reactions produce elements all the way up to Fe.

 Freshly made elements are delivered via stellar winds

or, sometimes more spectacularly via supernova
explosions
 The Synthesis of the Elements

Chemical Evolution III

What about the trans-Fe elements?
 Equilibrium fusion reactions of light elements don’t proceed
past Fe because of Fe’s location at the peak of the curve of
binding energy.

 However, in certain circumstances, supernovae for example,

nonequilibrium reactions can build elements beyond Fe in
the Periodic Table. Many of these are radioactive, but some
are stable.
 Neutron Capture Elements

 There are two principal paths to building the

elements heavier than Fe. Both use the addition
of neutrons to existing `seed’ nuclei (neutrons
have no charge so are much easier to add to
positively charged nuclei).

S-process (slow addition of neutrons)

R-process (rapid addition of neutrons)
 The S-Process
 The S-process stands for the Slow addition of neutrons to nuclei. The addition of a
no produces heavier isotope of a particular element. However, if an electron is emitted
(this is called beta-decay), the nucleus moves one step up the periodic table.
 `Slow’ here means that rate of no captures is low compared to the beta-decay
rate.
The s-process acting in the range from Ag to Sb.

 The S-process can produce

Here a neutron changed into
a proton by emitting an elements up to #83 - Bismuth.
electron There are peaks in the Solar
System abundance of heavy
elements at 38Sr, 56Ba and
82Pb. These are easily
understood in the context of
the S-process and `magic’
numbers of neutrons.
 The Transuranic Elements
• In the 1930s, the heaviest element known was uranium,
with an atomic number 92.
• Early in 1940, Edwin McMillan proved that an element
having an atomic number 93 could be created.
• He used a particle accelerator to bombard uranium with
neutrons and created an element with an atomic
number 93 which he named neptunium.
 The Transuranic Elements
• At the end of 1940, element 94 was
synthesized by Seaborg, McMillan,
Kennedy, and Wahl.
• They bombarded uranium with deuterons
(particles composed of a proton and a
neutron) in a cyclotron. Element-94 was
named plutonium.
 Stellar nucleosynthesis
• This is the process by which elements are created within stars by
combining the protons and neutrons together from the nuclei of
lighter elements.
• Fusion inside stars transforms hydrogen into helium, heat, and
radiation. Heavier elements are created in different types of stars as
they die or explode.
 The Superheavy
Elements

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

Following are the equations of several nuclear reactions that have important
roles in the history of nuclear chemistry:
•The first naturally occurring unstable element that was isolated, polonium, was
discovered by the Polish scientist Marie Curie and her husband Pierre in 1898. It
decays, emitting particles:
GUIDE QUESTIONS:
1. How does the concept of atomic number led to the synthesis of new
elements in the laboratory?
2. What are the different elements formed after the process of
synthesis?
3. What are the importance of the atomic number in identifying the
new elements identity in the periodic table?

What is the importance of understanding atomic concept and how will

you apply these concepts in your daily living?