Livermorium (Lv), artificially produced transuranium element of atomic number 116. In 2000 scientists at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, announced the production of atoms of livermorium when curium-248 was fused with calcium-48. The resulting atoms of livermorium had an atomic weight of 292 and decayed through the emission of an alpha particle (helium nucleus) into flerovium. Three other isotopes of livermorium are known; the longest-lasting has an atomic weight of 293 and a half-life of 53 milliseconds. Continue reading from Encyclopedia Britannica
Like the other supervheavy elements, livermorium does not exist on Earth and is extremely difficult to synthesize. Scientists tried to create it by smashing calcium atoms with 48 neutrons into curium atoms with 248 neutrons. Theoretically, the resulting atom would have 116 protons and 296 neutrons -- the extra neutrons would help keep the protons away from one another, holding the nucleus together for precious milliseconds. Scientists first tried this in 1977, then tried again and again as bigger colliders and better detectors became available. In 2000, Russian researchers from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia finally succeeded. They detected a single atom of element 116. They decided to name it ''livermorium,'' after the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the USA, which had supplied essential material for the discovery of the element. Continue reading from Study.com
Livermorium is a radioactive, artificially produced element about which little is known. It is expected to be a solid and classified as a metal. It is a member of the chalcogen group. Livermorium has four isotopes with known half-lives, all of which decay through alpha decay. The most stable is 293Lv with a half-life of about 53 milliseconds. The atomic weight for manmade transuranium elements is based on the longest-lived isotope. These atomic weights should be considered provisional since a new isotope with a longer half-life could be produced in the future. Continue reading from LiveScience
