Livermorium
⚛️ In Your World
Livermorium is a synthetic, superheavy element that has only ever been created a few atoms at a time in particle accelerators. Its most stable known isotope, livermorium-293, has a half-life of about 60 milliseconds. Due to its extreme instability and the fact that only a handful of atoms have ever been made, it has no applications outside of fundamental scientific research. Its only purpose is to help scientists understand the behavior and limits of atomic nuclei.
📖 The Discovery Story
Livermorium was first synthesized in 2000 by a joint team of Russian scientists at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, and American scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California. The team, led by physicist Yuri Oganessian, produced livermorium by bombarding a target of curium-248 with accelerated calcium-48 ions. The element was officially named in 2012 in honor of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, recognizing its role in the collaboration.
📊 Properties at a Glance
| Phase at STP | Solid (presumed) |
| Melting Point | 637–780 K (predicted) |
| Boiling Point | 1035–1135 K (predicted) |
| Electron Configuration | [Rn] 5f¹⁴6d¹⁰7s²7p⁴ (predicted) |
| Abundance in Earth's Crust | Essentially zero |
⚠️ Safety & Handling
Livermorium is intensely radioactive and extremely hazardous. It has only ever been produced on an atom-by-atom basis. All work with livermorium is conducted in specialized particle accelerator facilities with remote handling to protect researchers from its lethal radiation.