meitnerium [Mt]

Introduction

Named after Austrian physicist Lise Meitner, who first suggested a theory of spontaneous nuclear fission. First synthesized in 1982 by German physicist Peter Armbruster & Gottfried Muzenberg at the Gesellshaft fur Schwerionenforschung.

Occurrence

• does NOT occur naturally
• only a few atoms have ever been synthesized
• produced by bombardment of bismuth-209 with iron-58 nuclei

Characteristics

• presumably solid of unknown color
• presumably radioactive

Uses

none

More general terms

• transactinide
• radioactive element