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About Copernicium

Copernicium Bohr

Copernicium, known formerly as ununbium, is an extremely radioactive element first synthesized in 1996 by a team of German scientists led by Sigurd Hofmann, Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research. This initial work produced only a single atom of the element, and the claim of discovery was only recognized by IUPAC in 2009 after years of additional work by the GSI team. To this day, only a few atoms of Copernicium have ever been produced, severely limiting our knowledge of its properties, though it is known that the Group 12 metal likely shares some properties with the other group 12 elements zinc, cadmium, and mercury.

The name copernicium was proposed by the GSI in 2009 in honor of Nicolaus Copernicus, "to honnor an outstanding scientist, who changed our view of the world." The name was accepted by the scientific community after a standard period of discussion, becoming official in February, 2010.

Copernicium Properties

Copernicium Bohr Model class="image-left">Copernicium is a D-Block, Group 12, Period 7 element. The number of electrons in each of Copernicium's shells is 2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 18, 2 and its electron configuration is [Rn] 5f14 6d10 7s2. In its elemental form, Copernicium's CAS number is 54084-26-3. Copernicium was discovered in 1996 at the Institute for Heavy Ion Research (Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI)) in Darmstadt, Germany by Sigurd Hofmann, Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg. Copernicium is a synthetic element that is not present in the environment. Little is known about the element, its appearance is unknown, and it has no known uses. Copernicium was named in honor of the sixteenth century scientist Nicolaus Copernicus.

Copernicium information, including technical data, safety data, research, applications and other useful facts are discussed below. Scientific facts such as the atomic structure, ionization energy, abundance on Earth, conductivity and thermal properties are included.

Symbol: Cn
Atomic Number: 112
Atomic Weight: 285
Element Category: transition metal
Group, Period, Block: 12, 7, d
Color: unknown (presumably metallic/ silvery white/ gray)
Other Names: Copernicio
Melting Point: N/A
Boiling Point: N/A
Density: 23.7 (predicted)
Liquid Density @ Melting Point: N/A
Density @ 20°C: N/A
Density of Solid: 16800 (predicted) kg·m3
Specific Heat: N/A
Superconductivity Temperature: N/A
Triple Point: N/A
Critical Point: N/A
Heat of Fusion (kJ·mol-1): N/A
Heat of Vaporization (kJ·mol-1): N/A
Heat of Atomization (kJ·mol-1): N/A
Thermal Conductivity: N/A
Thermal Expansion: N/A
Electrical Resistivity: N/A
Tensile Strength: N/A
Molar Heat Capacity: N/A
Young's Modulus: N/A
Shear Modulus: N/A
Bulk Modulus: N/A
Poisson Ratio: N/A
Mohs Hardness: N/A
Vickers Hardness: N/A
Brinell Hardness: N/A
Speed of Sound: N/A
Pauling Electronegativity: N/A
Sanderson Electronegativity: N/A
Allred Rochow Electronegativity: N/A
Mulliken-Jaffe Electronegativity: N/A
Allen Electronegativity: N/A
Pauling Electropositivity: N/A
Reflectivity (%): N/A
Refractive Index: N/A
Electrons: 112
Protons: 112
Neutrons: 165
Electron Configuration: 5f14 6d10 7s2
Atomic Radius: 110 pm (predicted)
Atomic Radius,
non-bonded (Å):
Unknown
Covalent Radius: 122 pm (predicted)
Covalent Radius (Å): 1.22
Van der Waals Radius: N/A
Oxidation States: 4, 2, 0 (predicted)
Phase: unknown
Crystal Structure: unknown
Magnetic Ordering: unknown
Electron Affinity (kJ·mol-1) Unknown
1st Ionization Energy: 1154.9 kJ·mol-1 (estimated)
2nd Ionization Energy: 2170.0 kJ·mol-1 (estimated)
3rd Ionization Energy: 3164.7 kJ·mol-1 (estimated)
CAS Number: 54084-26-3
EC Number: N/A
MDL Number: N/A
Beilstein Number: N/A
SMILES Identifier: N/A
InChI Identifier: N/A
InChI Key: N/A
PubChem CID: N/A
ChemSpider ID: N/A
Earth - Total: N/A
Mercury - Total: N/A
Venus - Total: N/A
Earth - Seawater (Oceans), ppb by weight: N/A
Earth - Seawater (Oceans), ppb by atoms: N/A
Earth -  Crust (Crustal Rocks), ppb by weight: N/A
Earth -  Crust (Crustal Rocks), ppb by atoms: N/A
Sun - Total, ppb by weight: N/A
Sun - Total, ppb by atoms: N/A
Stream, ppb by weight: N/A
Stream, ppb by atoms: N/A
Meterorite (Carbonaceous), ppb by weight: N/A
Meterorite (Carbonaceous), ppb by atoms: N/A
Typical Human Body, ppb by weight: N/A
Typical Human Body, ppb by atom: N/A
Universe, ppb by weight: N/A
Universe, ppb by atom: N/A
Discovered By: Sigurd Hofmann, Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg
Discovery Date: 1996
First Isolation: N/A

Copernicium Isotopes

Copernicium (Cn) is an artificial element. Like all artificial elements, it has no stable isotopes.

Nuclide Isotopic Mass Half-Life Mode of Decay Nuclear Spin Magnetic Moment Binding Energy (MeV) Natural Abundance
(% by atom)
277Cn 277.16394(14)# 1.1(7) ms [0.69(+69-24) ms] a to 273Ds 3/2+# N/A 1963.07 -
278Cn 278.16431(57)# 10# ms Unknown 0+ N/A N/A -
279Cn 279.16655(53)# 0.1# s Unknown N/A N/A N/A -
280Cn 280.16704(69)# 1# s a to 277Ds; SF 0+ N/A N/A -
281Cn 281.16929(106)# 10# s SF 3/2+# N/A N/A -
282Cn 282.16977(76)# 30# s Unknown 0+ N/A N/A -
283Cn 283.17179(83)# 4.2(2.1) min a to 279Ds; SF N/A N/A 2002.23 -
284Cn 284.17238(91)# 31(18) s a to 280Ds; SF 0+ N/A 2010.3 -
285Cn 285.17411(78)# 40(30) min a to 281Ds 5/2+# N/A 2018.38 -