Some things are man-made.
We can make these things. We use big tools to make them. They are not found in nature. We can learn how to make them. Do you like to build things?
Some things are man-made.
We call these things synthetic. They are not found on Earth. People make them in big labs. We use tools to push tiny bits together. This makes a new thing.
These new things can be unstable. This means they fall apart quickly. Some last a long time. Others go away in a blink.
Scientists made the first one in 1937. It was called technetium. They made more in 1944. These tools help us learn.
It is fun to build new things.
Some things on Earth are not found in nature. We call these things synthetic. People make them in labs. They use tools like a nuclear reactor. They might also use a particle accelerator. These tools help push tiny parts into an atom. This makes a new element.
Scientists first made technetium in 1937. This filled a gap in the periodic table. Later, people made curium in 1944. It was the first entirely synthetic element. This was done by hitting plutonium with alpha particles.
Most synthetic elements are unstable. This means they decay. Decaying is when they fall apart into lighter elements. Some stay around for a long time. Others last for only a tiny moment. For example, some last for millions of years. Others last for only seconds.
There are 24 synthetic elements with atomic numbers 95 to 118. These were all made between 1944 and 2010. Many of these elements are only used for science. This is because they do not last long. They are very hard to make in large amounts.
Some things on Earth are not found in nature. We call these things synthetic. These are elements that people create by hand. Scientists use special tools to make them. They might use a nuclear reactor or a particle accelerator. They can even use the explosion of an atomic bomb. These tools help move tiny parts into an atom. This way, a brand new element is born.
How does this work? It is a very specific way of making something new. Scientists take an element with a low atomic number. An atomic number is just the count of protons in a nucleus. To make a synthetic element, they force extra protons into that nucleus. This can happen through nuclear fusion or neutron absorption. This process changes the element into something different. It is like adding pieces to a building to make it bigger.
Humans have been doing this for a long time. The very first element made by people was technetium. It was first synthesized in 1937. This discovery filled a gap in the periodic table. Later, in 1944, scientists made the first entirely synthetic element. This was curium. Glenn T. Seaborg, Ralph A. James, and Albert Ghiorso made it. They did this by hitting plutonium with alpha particles.
There are many facts to know about these elements. There are 24 synthetic elements with atomic numbers from 95 to 118. These were all first created between 1944 and 2010. Most of these elements are unstable. This means they decay, or fall apart, into lighter elements. Their half-lives can be very different. Some isotopes last for millions of years. Others last for only microseconds.
Many of these elements are linked to things we study in science. For example, plutonium is used in nuclear reactors and atomic bombs. It is the element with the most protons found in nature. However, it is very hard to find in large amounts. Most elements with atomic numbers higher than 99 are only used for research. This is because they decay too quickly to be used for much else. They simply do not stay around long enough.
A synthetic element is a chemical element that does not occur naturally on Earth. Humans create these elements by manipulating fundamental particles. Scientists use tools like nuclear reactors or particle accelerators to achieve this. They can also use the energy from an atomic bomb explosion. Because they are made by humans, they are often called artificial or man-made.
The creation of a synthetic element requires a specific process. Scientists take an existing element with a low atomic number. The atomic number is the total count of protons in a nucleus. To make a new element, they must force additional protons into that nucleus. This can happen through nuclear fusion or neutron absorption. By adding these particles, the identity of the atom changes. This process turns one element into a completely different one.
There are 24 elements that are strictly synthetic. These elements have atomic numbers ranging from 95 to 118. They were all first created between the years 1944 and 2010. Some other elements are sometimes called synthetic, but they are slightly different. For example, technetium, promethium, astatine, neptunium, and plutonium were made by humans first. However, scientists later found them in tiny trace quantities in nature. Plutonium is the element with the highest atomic number found in nature. It is used in nuclear reactors and atomic bombs.
All known synthetic elements are unstable. This means they undergo radioactive decay. During decay, they turn into lighter elements. These elements have different half-lives, which is the time it takes for half of them to decay. Some isotopes have very long half-lives, lasting millions of years. Others are extremely short-lived, lasting only microseconds. For instance, Curium-247 has a half-life of 1.64 × 10^7 years. In contrast, Bohrium-270 has a half-life of only about 61 seconds.
The history of these elements began in 1937 with technetium. This was the first element to be synthesized rather than discovered in nature. Technetium filled a gap in the periodic table. In 1944, Glenn T. Seaborg, Ralph A. James, and Albert Ghiorso created curium. They synthesized it by bombarding plutonium with alpha particles. Curium was the first entirely synthetic element ever made. Later, in 1952, a team led by Albert Ghiorso discovered einsteinium and fermium. They found these elements while studying debris from a hydrogen bomb detonation.
During the Cold War, scientific competition was very high. Teams from the United States and the Soviet Union worked independently. They both created the elements rutherfordium and dubnium. For many years, the credit for these discoveries was not resolved. In 1992, international organizations finally recognized shared credit for both. In 1997, the name dubnium was chosen to honor the Russian city of Dubna. This was done because American names had already been used for other elements. The name rutherfordium was accepted for element 104.
Modern discovery involves many different countries. An American team created seaborgium. A German team created six elements, including bohrium and meitnerium. A Japanese team created element 113, known as nihonium. The final five elements were created by Russian-American collaborations. These include flerovium, moscovium, livermorium, tennessine, and oganesson. These elements complete the seventh row of the periodic table. Most elements with atomic numbers greater than 99 are used only for scientific research. They decay too quickly to be produced in large quantities for other uses.
Where will your curiosity go next?
🖼️ Images & Media (1)
More to explore
✨ What else?
Related topics you might enjoy
🪜 Step back
Simpler topics to build understanding
What is Nepedia?
A free, ad-free encyclopedia for children. Every article is written at five reading levels, so the same page works for a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old — use the level switcher above to see this one change. No account needed to read.