Questions tagged [elements]
Questions with this tag should involve the elements on the periodic table and their different properties.
277 questions
Score of 12
3 answers
3050 views
Is it a coincidence that the heaviest element (so far) oganesson is a "noble gas"?
We've synthesized all elements up through oganesson, element 118. It's interesting that this heaviest element completes row 7 of the periodic table (I've heard it's theorized to have quite different ...
- reputation score 221
Score of 3
4 answers
1107 views
Does a nucleus need to be electrically neutral as an atom to exist?
I read somewhere that nuclei with more than 118 protons cannot exist. The reason given was something along the lines of:
Such a nucleus, if it were to be an atom, could never be electrically neutral ...
- reputation score 249
Score of -3
2 answers
139 views
Color of very high temperature metal undergoing fission, assuming it stays intact?
In the case of a piece of plutonium heated to a million degrees, what would be its color? At low temperature it should glow red, but what about at higher temperatures if it stays briefly intact?
- reputation score 1488
Score of 0
1 answer
144 views
Is there a periodic table showing the radioactivity of elements in their natural isotoic ratios?
In something like decays per second because a stable elements doesn't really have a half life
- reputation score 202
Score of 0
0 answers
61 views
Which has most stable nucleus, Iron 56 or Nickel 62? [duplicate]
I want to know the exact answer, which has most stable nucleus iron 56 or Nickel 62
- reputation score 1
Score of 2
1 answer
243 views
If there wasn't a weak nuclear force, what would be the heaviest stable theoretically stable isotope with an equal number of protons and neutrons?
If weak nuclear force didn't exist, what would be the heaviest stable theoretically stable isotope with equal protons and Neutrons? For our universe the heaviest such isotope is calcium 40, but most ...
- reputation score 3889
Score of 4
1 answer
557 views
Atomic orbitals of elements
Why is the sequence of atomic orbitals (1s, 2s, 2p, 3s, 3p, 4s, 3d, …) the same for all elements, cf. the Aufbau principle, even though different elements have different numbers of electrons?
- reputation score 638
Score of 0
3 answers
1095 views
What truly is the lightest radioactive element? [closed]
From general knowledge, I know that Technetium is the lightest known radioactive element, but I recently saw a Hank Green video stating otherwise, that the answer is Bismuth. He also mentioned that ...
- reputation score 2796
Score of 2
0 answers
158 views
Spectral lines in the spectrum of $\rm Hg$ and $\rm Ne$
In the measured emission spectrum of $\rm Hg$, I observe clear identified bands :
from $5d^{10}6s7s- {^3}\!S-1$ at 1530.00 nm
from $5d^{10}6s6d-{^1}\!D-2$ at 1692.478 nm
These are marked with a ...
- reputation score 45
Score of 4
1 answer
519 views
What makes iron special?
Iron is the end of the road for fission and fusion, the lowest energy nucleus. It's also the strongest magnetic atom. Is this coincidence, or is there a deeper connection?
- reputation score 731
Score of 6
3 answers
247 views
Why are the typical decay products of a fission reaction asymmetric?
I am a fourth year undergraduate student. My nuclear physics lecturer made the offhand comment that most fission decays produce 'asymmetric' products. For example the decay of $^{235}U$ is:
$$^{1}_{0}\...
- reputation score 1483
Score of 0
1 answer
183 views
Nuclear fission in various nuclei [closed]
If a nucleus of U-238 has binding energy of 7.570 MeV, does that mean if a neutron hitting it has a higher energy, it'd cause it to split? If so, why are some nuclei split with thermal neutrons, and ...
- reputation score 11
Score of 1
1 answer
248 views
How exactly do neutron star mergers create heavy elements?
This is a follow up question to this as suggested by ProfRob:
Do neutron stars fuse elements?
And this one where ProfRob talks about the beta decay process being repressed in single neutron stars, but ...
- reputation score 30446
Score of 5
1 answer
322 views
Why is it that for light elements, roughly up to iron ($\rm Fe$), splitting nuclei actually costs energy, rather than energy being released?
I have read this question:
For light elements, roughly up to iron ($\mathrm{Fe}$), splitting atoms actually costs energy, rather than energy being released.
How much energy is released from the ...
- reputation score 30446
Score of 42
5 answers
6361 views
Are there individual protons and neutrons in a nucleus? [duplicate]
The popular science material always talks about the number of protons and neutrons in a nucleus, but I've always wondered if that's a real thing nuclear physicists believe or if it is just a ...
- reputation score 559
