Seaborgium
⚛️ In Your World
Seaborgium is a synthetic, superheavy element that has only ever been created a few atoms at a time in particle accelerators. Its most stable isotope has a half-life of only about 1.9 minutes. Due to its extreme instability and rarity, it has no applications outside of fundamental scientific research. Its existence is purely of interest to scientists studying the limits of the periodic table.
📖 The Discovery Story
Seaborgium was first synthesized in 1974 by a team of American scientists led by Albert Ghiorso at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. They created it by bombarding a californium target with oxygen ions. The discovery was also claimed by a team in Dubna, Russia. After a long naming dispute, in 1997 the element was officially named "seaborgium" in honor of Glenn T. Seaborg, a pioneering American nuclear chemist. This was a highly controversial and unprecedented decision, as it was the first time an element had been officially named after a living person.
📊 Properties at a Glance
| Phase at STP | Solid (presumed) |
| Melting Point | Unknown |
| Boiling Point | Unknown |
| Electron Configuration | [Rn] 5f¹⁴6d⁴7s² (predicted) |
| Abundance in Earth's Crust | Essentially zero |
⚠️ Safety & Handling
Seaborgium is intensely radioactive and extremely hazardous. It has only ever been produced on an atom-by-atom basis. All work with seaborgium is conducted in specialized particle accelerator facilities with remote handling to protect researchers from its lethal radiation.