astatine

enUK

as·ta·tine

A0480700 (ăs′tə-tēn′, -tĭn)n. Symbol At A highly unstable radioactive element, the heaviest of the halogen group, that resembles iodine in solution. Its longest lived isotope has a mass number of 210 and has a half-life of 8.3 hours. Atomic number 85; melting point 302°C; boiling point 337°C; valence probably 1, 3, 5, 7. See Periodic Table.

[Greek astatos, unstable; see astasia + -ine.]

astatine

(ˈæstəˌtiːn; -tɪn) n (Elements & Compounds) a radioactive element of the halogen series: a decay product of uranium and thorium that occurs naturally in minute amounts and is artificially produced by bombarding bismuth with alpha particles. Symbol: At; atomic no: 85; half-life of most stable isotope, ²¹⁰At: 8.1 hours; probable valency: 1,3,5, or 7; melting pt: 302°C; boiling pt: 337°C (est)[C20: from Greek astatos unstable (see astatic) + -ine²]

as•ta•tine

(ˈæs təˌtin -tɪn)

n. a rare element of the halogen family. Symbol: At; at. no.: 85. [1945–50; < Greek ástat(os) unstable + -ine²]

as·ta·tine

(ăs′tə-tēn′) Symbol At A highly unstable, radioactive element that is the heaviest of the halogen elements. The most stable of its many isotopes has a half-life of only about eight hours. Atomic number 85. See Periodic Table.

Thesaurus

Noun

astatine - a highly unstable radioactive element (the heaviest of the halogen series); a decay product of uranium and thoriumAt, atomic number 85chemical element, element - any of the more than 100 known substances (of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matterhalogen - any of five related nonmetallic elements (fluorine or chlorine or bromine or iodine or astatine) that are all monovalent and readily form negative ions

Translations

astatine

enUK

astatine

(ăs`tətēn, –tĭn) [Gr.,=unstable], semimetallic radioactive chemical element; symbol At; at. no. 85; at. wt. of most stable isotope 210; m.p. 302&degC; (estimated); b.p. 337&degC; (estimated); density unknown; valence believed to be +1, +3, +5, or +7. Astatine is the heaviest known halogenhalogen
[Gr.,=salt-bearing], any of the chemically active elements found in Group 17 of the periodic table; the name applies especially to fluorine (symbol F), chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), and iodine (I).
..... Click the link for more information. (Group 17 of the periodic tableperiodic table,
chart of the elements arranged according to the periodic law discovered by Dmitri I. Mendeleev and revised by Henry G. J. Moseley. In the periodic table the elements are arranged in columns and rows according to increasing atomic number (see the table entitled
..... Click the link for more information. ). Its chemical properties are believed to be similar to those of iodineiodine
[Gr.,=violet], nonmetallic chemical element; symbol I; at. no. 53; at. wt. 126.90447; m.p. 113.5&degC;; b.p. 184.35&degC;; sp. gr. 4.93 at 20&degC;; valence −1, +1, +3, +5, or +7.
..... Click the link for more information. . The most stable isotope, astatine-210, has a half-life of about 8 hours. More than 30 isotopes of astatine have been identified. Small amounts of astatine exist in equilibrium with uranium and thorium in the earth's crust, but the total amount of astatine is probably less than 1 oz. Astatine-211 (half-life 7.21 hr) is sometimes used as a radioactive tracer; like iodine, it collects in the thyroid gland. The discovery of astatine (first called alabamine) was announced in 1931 by Fred Allison and E. J. Murphy. In 1940, Emilio Segré, D. R. Corson, and K. R. Mackenzie produced astatine-211 by bombarding bismuth-209 with alpha particles in the cyclotron at the Univ. of California.

Astatine

(At), a radioactive chemical element in Group VII of Mendeleev’s periodic system. Its atomic number is 85. Astatine has no stable isotope; at least 20 radioactive isotopes are known. The longest-lived of them, ²¹⁰At, has a half-life T ½ of 8.3 hours. Numerous attempts by scientists of various countries to discover the 85th element in natural elements by all possible chemical and physical methods were unsuccessful. In 1940, E. Segré, D. Corson, and K. Mackenzie, working on a cyclotron at Berkeley, obtained the first isotope, ²¹¹At, by bombarding bismuth with alpha particles. The name astatine comes from the Greek astatos, meaning “unstable.” Only after this artificial derivation was it shown that four of the isotopes of astatine (²¹⁵At, ²¹⁶At, ^2,8At, and ²¹⁹At) are formed in very low-probability (5 x 10 “’-0.02 percent) branches of three natural series of the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium. Astatine is adsorbed by metals (silver, gold, platinum) and evaporates easily under normal conditions and in a vacuum. Because of these properties, astatine can be separated (up to 85 percent) from the products of irradiated bismuth by means of vacuum distillation with adsorption of astatine by silver or platinum. The chemical properties of astatine are very interesting and unique. Astatine is as close to iodine as it is to polonium— that is, it displays properties of both a nonmetal (halogen) and a metal. This combination of properties is due to astatine’s position in the periodic system: it is the heaviest (and consequently the most “metallic”) element in the halogen group. Like the halogens, astatine gives insoluble salt, AgAt. Like iodine it oxidizes to a pentavalent state (the salt AgAt0₃ is analogous to AgIO₃). However, like typical metals, astatine precipitates with hydrogen sulfide even from a highly acidic solution, it is displaced by zinc from sulfuric acid solutions, and it precipitates at the cathode during electrolysis. The presence of astatine is determined by characteristic alpha emission.

REFERENCE

Gol’danskii, V. I. Novye elementy v Periodicheskoi sisteme D. I. Menedeleeva, 3rd ed. Moscow, 1964. Pages 131–41.

V. I. GOL’DANSKII

astatine

[′as·tə‚tēn] (chemistry) A radioactive chemical element, symbol At, atomic number 85, the heaviest of the halogen elements.

astatine

a radioactive element of the halogen series: a decay product of uranium and thorium that occurs naturally in minute amounts and is artificially produced by bombarding bismuth with alpha particles. Symbol: At; atomic no.: 85; half-life of most stable isotope, ²¹⁰At: 8.1 hours; probable valency: 1,3,5, or 7; melting pt.: 302°C; boiling pt.: 337°C (est.)

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REFERENCE

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Synonyms for astatine

noun a highly unstable radioactive element (the heaviest of the halogen series)

Synonyms

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