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Chemistry of Astatine (Z=85)

  • Page ID
    575
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    Astatine was formerly known as alabamine. It has no stable isotopes and was first synthetically produced (1940) at the University of California.

    Name: Astatine
    Symbol: At
    Atomic Number: 85
    Atomic Mass: (210.0) amu
    Melting Point: 302.0 °C (575.15 K, 575.6 °F)
    Boiling Point: 337.0 °C (610.15 K, 638.6 °F)
    Number of Protons/Electrons: 85
    Number of Neutrons: 125
    Classification: Halogen
    Crystal Structure: Unknown
    Density @ 293 K: Unknown
    Color: Unknown
    Date of Discovery: 1940
    Discoverer: D.R. Corson
    Name Origin: From the Greek word astatos (unstable)
    Uses: No uses known
    Obtained From: Man-made
    Oxidation Number: -1, +5

    Astatine is the last of the known halogens and was synthesized in 1940 by Corson and others at the University of California. It is radioactive and its name, from the Greek astatos, means "unstable". The element can be produced by bombarding targets made of bismuth-209 with high energy alpha particles (helium nuclei). Astatine 211 is the product and has a half-life of 7.2 hours. The most stable isotope of astatine is 210, which has a half-life of 8.1 hours.

    Not much is known about the chemical properties of astatine, but it is expected to react like the other halogens, although much less vigorously, and it should be more metallic than iodine. There should be tiny quantities of astatine in the earth's crust as products of other radioactive decays, but their existence would be short-lived.

    Contributors and Attributions

    Stephen R. Marsden


    Chemistry of Astatine (Z=85) is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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