Tennessine (Ts)
halogenExpected to be a Solid
Standard Atomic Weight
[294]Electron configuration
[Rn] 7s2 7p5 5f14 6d10 (Predicted)Melting point
549.85 °CBoiling point
609.85 °CDensity
7200 kg/m³Oxidation states
−1, +1, +3, +5Electronegativity (Pauling)
N/AIonization energy (1st)
N/ADiscovery year
2010Atomic radius
138 pmDetails
Tennessine is a synthetic superheavy element in group 17, below astatine. It has been identified only through decay chains from a few individual atoms, chiefly isotopes such as ²⁹³Ts and ²⁹⁴Ts. Although it is placed among the halogens, relativistic effects are expected to make its chemistry less typical than that of iodine or astatine. No natural reservoir or macroscopic sample is known.
Tennessine does not occur naturally in the Earth’s crust. The name tennessine and the symbol Ts, are the accepted ones for element 117. The name is in recognition of the contribution of the Tennessee region, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Vanderbilt University, and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, to super-heavy element research, including the production and chemical separation of unique actinide target materials for super-heavy element synthesis at ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) and Radiochemical Engineering Development Center (REDC) [676], [677], [678], [679].
In 2009, two isotopes, 293Ts and 294Ts were synthesized from the bombardment of 48Ca ions with 249Bk nuclei (Fig. IUPAC.117.1) in the Dubna gas filled recoil separator and the heavy ion cyclotron U-400. Tennessine has no known isotopic applications aside from scientific research.
On April 5, 2010, scientists working at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, along with scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, announced the creation of tennessine. They produced tennessine by bombarding atoms of berkelium-249 with ions of calcium-48. Tennessine's most stable isotope, tennessine-294, has a half-life of about 80 milliseconds. It decays into moscovium-290 through alpha decay.
On Novemer 28th, 2016 element 117 was named Tennessine with the symbol (Ts). The Tennessee region of the United States is home to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, all of which contributed to superheavy element research.
The appearance of elemental tennessine is unknown. No visible or weighable sample has been made, and its shortest-lived observed isotopes decay far too quickly for ordinary physical examination. Any description of color, luster, density, or melting behavior is theoretical.
Tennessine has no practical use outside nuclear research. Its production has served to test models of superheavy nuclei, decay chains, and the stability of very heavy elements near the predicted island of stability. Experiments involving tennessine require specialized accelerators and rare target materials; the atoms produced are detected by their radioactive decay, not collected for application.
Since only a few atoms of tennessine have ever been produced, it currently has no uses outside of basic scientific research.
No tennessine compound has been isolated or chemically characterized in bulk. Calculations treat tennessine as a very heavy halogen with accessible -1 and positive oxidation states, but with strong relativistic modifications. Predicted species include the Ts⁻ ion, hydrogen tennesside (HTs), tennessine monofluoride (TsF), and higher fluorides such as tennessine trifluoride (TsF₃), though these remain unconfirmed experimentally. The +7 state is generally expected to be less favored than in lighter halogens.
See more information at the Tennessine compound page.
The safety properties of tennessine are dominated by intense radioactivity at the atom scale rather than by known chemical toxicity. Observed isotopes have half-lives measured in milliseconds, so they decay before any normal handling of material is possible. Experiments are conducted in shielded accelerator facilities with controls for heavy-ion beams, radioactive targets, and decay products.
Tennessine has no confirmed natural occurrence and no known environmental cycle. Any atoms formed naturally, if at all, would decay rapidly and would not accumulate in air, water, soil, or living systems. Environmental considerations are therefore limited to controlled laboratory work with accelerator targets, reaction products, and radioactive residues.
Tennessine has no commodity market, industrial supply chain, or commercial demand. It is produced atom by atom by heavy-ion fusion, notably by bombarding ²⁴⁹Bk targets with ⁴⁸Ca ions. The limiting factors are accelerator time, detector capability, and the scarcity of suitable berkelium target material. Recycling in the usual industrial sense is not relevant; unused or residual target material may be recovered within research programs.
Made by bombarding berkelium-249 with calcium-48.
Tennessine is not expected to have any lasting cosmic abundance. Nuclei with this proton number, if produced in extreme nucleosynthetic events, would decay rapidly compared with astronomical timescales. It is absent from normal planetary chemistry and is known only as a human-made superheavy element.
- Tennessine was named for the U.S. state of Tennessee, reflecting contributions from laboratories and institutions there.
- Its confirmed atoms have been identified through correlated alpha decays and spontaneous fission events.
- Only a few atoms are needed for discovery-level evidence in superheavy-element work.
- The element sits below astatine, itself one of the rarest naturally occurring elements.
- Tennessine chemistry has not yet been tested by direct chemical separation experiments.
- Its symbol, Ts, was assigned after the element name was approved.
Images
Properties
Physical
- Atomic radius (empirical)
- 138 pm Compare Atomic radius (empirical) of all elements →
- Density
- 7200 kg/m³ Compare Density of all elements →
- Phase at STP
- Solid Compare Phase at STP of all elements →
- Melting point
- 549.85 °C Compare Melting point of all elements →
- Boiling point
- 609.85 °C Compare Boiling point of all elements →
Chemical
- Electron affinity
- 1.8 eV
- Oxidation states
- −1, +1, +3, +5 Compare Oxidation states of all elements →
- Valence electrons
- 7 Compare Valence electrons of all elements →
- Electron configuration
- [Rn] 7s2 7p5 5f14 6d10 (Predicted)
Thermodynamic
N/A
Nuclear
- Protons
- 117 Compare Protons of all elements →
- Neutrons
- 177 Compare Neutrons of all elements →
- Known isotopes
- 4 Compare Known isotopes of all elements →
- Stable isotopes
- 0 Compare Stable isotopes of all elements →
- Mass number (most stable)
- 294
- Most stable isotope
- Ts-294
- Discovery year
- 2010
Abundance
N/A
Crystal Structure
N/A
Electronic Structure
- Electrons per shell
- 14, 10, 7 Compare Electrons per shell of all elements →
Identifiers
- CAS number
- 87658-56-8 Compare CAS number of all elements →
- InChI
- InChI=1S/Ts
- InChI Key
- INMSAURDCVBGHH-UHFFFAOYSA-N
Electron Configuration Predicted
——Electron configuration data not available for this ion.
Atomic model
Isotopes change neutron count, mass, and stability — not the electron configuration of a neutral atom.
N/A
Schematic atomic model, not to scale.
Atomic Fingerprint
Emission / Absorption Spectrum
Isotope Distribution
No stable isotopes.
| Mass number | Atomic mass (u) | Natural abundance | Half-life |
|---|---|---|---|
| 291 Radioactive | 291.20553 ± 0.00068 | N/A | 2 ms |
| 292 Radioactive | 292.20746 ± 0.00075 | N/A | 10 ms |
| 293 Radioactive | 293.20824 ± 0.00089 | N/A | 25 ms |
| 294 Radioactive | 294.21046 ± 0.00074 | N/A | 70 ms |
Phase / State
Reason: 524.9 °C below melting point (549.85 °C)
Schematic, not to scale
Phase transition points
Density
At standard conditions
At standard conditions
Crystal structure data not available
Isotopes (4)
| Mass number | Atomic mass (u) | Natural abundance | Half-life | Decay mode | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 291 Radioactive | 291.20553 ± 0.00068 | N/A | 2 ms | α ?SF ? | |
| 292 Radioactive | 292.20746 ± 0.00075 | N/A | 10 ms | α ?SF ? | |
| 293 Radioactive | 293.20824 ± 0.00089 | N/A | 25 ms | α =100% | |
| 294 Radioactive | 294.21046 ± 0.00074 | N/A | 70 ms | α =100% |
Extended Properties
Covalent Radii (Extended)
- Covalent radius (Pyykkö)
- 165 pm
Numbering Scales
- Mendeleev
- 111
Polarizability & Dispersion
- Dipole polarizability
- 76 a.u.
- Dipole polarizability (unc.)
- 15 a.u.
Oxidation State Categories
Advanced Reference Data
Isotope Decay Modes (6)
| Isotope | Mode | Intensity |
|---|---|---|
| 291 | A | — |
| 291 | SF | — |
| 292 | A | — |
| 292 | SF | — |
| 293 | A | 100% |
| 294 | A | 100% |
Additional Data
Estimated Crustal Abundance
The estimated element abundance in the earth's crust.
Not Applicable
References (1)
- [5] Tennessine https://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele117.html
Estimated Oceanic Abundance
The estimated element abundance in the earth's oceans.
Not Applicable
References (1)
- [5] Tennessine https://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele117.html
References
(8)
Data deposited in or computed by PubChem
The half-life and atomic mass data was provided by the Atomic Mass Data Center at the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Element data are cited from the Atomic weights of the elements (an IUPAC Technical Report). The IUPAC periodic table of elements can be found at https://iupac.org/what-we-do/periodic-table-of-elements/. Additional information can be found within IUPAC publication doi:10.1515/pac-2015-0703 Copyright © 2020 International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.
The information are cited from Pure Appl. Chem. 2018; 90(12): 1833-2092, https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2015-0703.
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) is one of 17 national laboratories funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The lab's primary mission is to conduct basic research of the atom's nucleus using the lab's unique particle accelerator, known as the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF). For more information visit https://www.jlab.org/
The periodic table at the LANL (Los Alamos National Laboratory) contains basic element information together with the history, source, properties, use, handling and more. The provenance data may be found from the link under the source name.
The periodic table contains NIST's critically-evaluated data on atomic properties of the elements.
This section provides all form of data related to element Tennessine.