Technetium - the first synthetic element
11/07/19 • 8 min
Technetium was the first element on the periodic table to be synthesised. It is rare, radioactive and has only a few uses, says Prof Allan Blackman in ep 83 of Elemental.
Dmitri Mendeleev predicted some of the properties of element 43, but it remained stubbornly undiscovered until l937.
The reason it was hard to discover is that the radioactive element doesn't really exist on Planet Earth.
Its great claim to fame is that it was the first element to be synthesised, hence its name, technetium, from the Greek tekhnetos, meaning 'artificial', says Professor Allan Blackman from the Auckland University of Technology, in episode 83 of Elemental.
Technetium was the first element on the periodic table to be synthesised. It is rare, radioactive and has only a few uses, says Prof Allan Blackman in ep 83 of Elemental.
Dmitri Mendeleev predicted some of the properties of element 43, but it remained stubbornly undiscovered until l937.
The reason it was hard to discover is that the radioactive element doesn't really exist on Planet Earth.
Its great claim to fame is that it was the first element to be synthesised, hence its name, technetium, from the Greek tekhnetos, meaning 'artificial', says Professor Allan Blackman from the Auckland University of Technology, in episode 83 of Elemental.
Previous Episode
Tantalum - a tantalising chemical element
The metal tantalum is usually found with the element niobium, has a very high melting point but is a 'conflict mineral', says Prof Allan Blackman in ep 82 of Elemental.
Tantalum is almost always found in association with niobium, which is why tantalum is named after Tantalus, the father of Niobe.
Tantalus was condemned to eternal hunger and thirst by the Greek Gods, even when he was surrounded by fruit and water. The discoverer of tantalum thought it was a fitting name as the element, "when placed in the midst of acids, is incapable of taking them up and saturating itself with them."
Tantalum has the third highest melting point of all metals, which is why it was used as an early incandescent bulb filament.
The metal is inert to bodily fluids and well tolerated by our bodies, hence its use in surgical instruments and implants, says Professor Allan Blackman from the Auckland University of Technology, in episode 82 of Elemental.
Next Episode
Tellurium - usually associated with gold
Tellurium is a metalloid often found with gold and the US town Telluride is named after it, says Prof Allan Blackman, in ep 84 of Elemental.
Tellurium was one of Mendeleev's rare mistakes on the original periodic table as he put it in the wrong place.
Tellurium compounds are most famous for their nasty and persistent smell. Just fifteen milligrams of tellurium oxide taken orally will still be detectable as 'tellurium breath' eight months later. And the smell? Like bad garlic, owing to the production of dimethyltellurium.
It is a metalloid and finds uses in semiconductors, says Professor Allan Blackman from the Auckland University of Technology, in episode 84 of Elemental.
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