Astatine: Astatine

Located at Group 17 and Period 6 of the periodic table is one of the radioactive tracer and also used to treat in cancer treatment. This is Astatine.

First discovered by Emilio Segrè in 1940. Astatine is isolated also by Emilio Segrè also in 1940 at the University of California, Berkeley. They isolated Astatine by bombarding Bismuth particles with accelerated Alpha Particles which are actually Helium's Nuclei using a Cyclotron ( A particle accelerator ). The product created will be Astatine -211 and its neutrons.

A Cyclotron

Actually, Astatine was discovered cooperatively by 3 scientist, which is Dale R. Corson, Kenneth R. MacKenzie, and Emilio Segrè himself. However, it is to be said that Emilio Segrè first contributed the idea of Astatine discovery and therefore the credit of discovery of Astatine was given to Emilio Segrè.

Experiment on Astatine - 211

Astatine is also one of the rare element on earth as Astatine is usually found as a state of another heavier element in the process of radioactive decay. It has only a few traces of Astatine per million in earth's crust and therefore it is very rare.

Besides, scientist thought that the radiation emitted by Astatine might be used to cure cancers anytime.

Atomic Number : 85
Name : Astatine
Latin Name : Astatine
Electron per Shell : [ 2, 8, 18, 32, 18, 7 ]
Discoverer : Emilio Segrè ( 1940 )
Isolator : Emilio Segrè ( 1940 )
Element's : Atomic Mass : ( 210 ) ( estimated )
: Density : 7 g/cm³ ( Estimated )
: Type : Halogen

Chemical Properties :

Astatine has some metallic characteristics such as plating onto a cathode with

metal sulfides in hydrochloric acid and forming a stable monatomic (consisting of
one atom) cation in solution
Astatine breaks down too fast to allow any experiments that take more than a few hours.
58 isotopes : 3 of them are : Astatine - 209 : Protons : 85 : Neutrons : 124

Astatine - 210

: Electrons : 85 ( Half Life : 5.41 hours ) Astatine - 210 : Protons : 85 : Neutrons : 125 : Electrons : 85 ( Half Life : 8.1 hours ) Astatine - 211 : Protons : 85 : Neutrons : 126 : Electrons : 85 ( Half Life : 7.21 hours )

Physical Properties :

Black
Brittle in solid state
Poor conductor of heat
Poor conductor of electricity
Highly radioactive
Melting point : 302 degrees Celsius ( 575.6 Fahrenheit )
Boiling point : 336.8 degrees Celsius ( 638.24 Fahrenheit )

Radioactive symbol

How Astatine got its name?

Astatine come from the Greek name Astatos, meaning unstable. It is name so because of its weak stability that cannot even hold together a day.

Uses

Astatine doesn't have any known uses yet but however, its isotope Astatine - 211, acts as an radioactive tracer and in cancer treatment that accumulates in the Thyroid Gland. It is said that Astatine - 211 radiates radioactive waves that kills cancer cells in our body.