Rutherford keeps his place at 104, but Russia is acknowledged at 105 by the naming of dubnium, after Dubna, where kurchatovium was allegedly first created.
The first two transactinoid elements, rutherfordium (Rf) and dubnium (Db), with atomic numbers 104 and 105, respectively, have isotopes with half-lives sufficiently long (13 and 32 hours, respectively) to allow determination of chemical properties by application of specifically devised "fast chemistry" techniques.
The five atoms with atomic weight 293 decayed into atoms of roentgenium in a time of 0.014 second, and that with a weight of 294 decayed into an atom of dubnium in a time of 0.078 second.
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry ultimately determined that the element be named dubnium.
The discovery of dubnium (element 105), like that of rutherfordium (element 104), has been a matter of dispute between Soviet and American scientists.
Dubna has already been enshrined in the periodic table with dubnium (element 105), so the Russians chose to honor Georgi N. Flerov, the founder of the research institute.
This week, we meet the element, dubnium, which has the atomic symbol, Db and the atomic number, 105.
Thirteen isotopes of dubnium are known so far, and three more are predicted to exist.
Here's our favourite chemistry professor, telling us that no one (including himself) knows much about the ephemeral element that is now known as dubnium: [Video link]........................ Video journalist Brady Haran is the man with the camera and the University of Nottingham is the place with the chemists.
(There are also two ringers in the lineup, dubnium and hassium, honoring the towns in which they were found).
