Oganesson (Og) is the heaviest chemical element in the periodic table, but its properties have proved difficult to measure since it was first synthesized in 2002. Now, an advanced computer simulation has filled in some of the gaps and it has been found that the element it’s even weirder than many expected.
At the atomic level, oganesson behaves remarkably differently towards lighter elements in several important ways – and this could provide some fundamental insights into the fundamentals of how these super-heavy elements work. Simulations performed by the international team of scientists show that electrons, protons, and neutrons do not follow the same rules as the other noble gases the element is grouped with, and this could have a big impact on how we understand this section of the periodic table. .Electronic structures of xenon (top), radon (middle) and oganesson (bottom).
“Questions concerning superheavy systems are at the forefront of nuclear and atomic physics and chemical research.” around the core, forming shell-like groups around the center. Calculations known as fermion location functions are used to figure out where these electron shells are, but such are the large electrostatic forces produced by an oganesson atom, the rules of special relativity come into play. adapted fermion location functions, called electron location functions, to calculate where the electrons would be in the oganesson.
In other words, at the most fundamental level, it’s nothing like other noble gases like xenon or neon. the researchers, Peter Schwerdtfeger, from Massey University, in New Zealand. the superheavy nucleus, according to the researchers’ calculations, although the protons have been shown to retain some sort of shell-like status. We’re talking deep-level quantum physics here, but what this all means is that oganesson doesn’t seem to be like the other elements it’s grouped with.
The formation of special bubbles of its electrons could mean that it is much more chemically reactive than the other noble gases, for example.
The element is very difficult to produce and lasts so little time that we cannot really examine it in the usual way. But now that we have these predictions about the structure and properties of element 118, scientists can set up experiments to try and put these hypotheses to the test.
This is the next stage of research. Down the road, these insights may even help us figure out how to make an oganesson atom that lasts longer than a millisecond. tools that we currently have and have certainly provided some interesting discoveries,” says Schwerdtfeger. The research was published in Physical Review Letters.