April 27, 1970 - Dubnium, element 105 on the periodic table, was discovered

Dubnium (Dubnium in English) is a chemical element discovered by the Russian Georgii Flerov in 1967 and synthesized for the first time by Albert Ghiorso and his colleagues in 1970, who were trying to confirm the discovery of the Russian chemist. The synthesis was carried out in the heavy ion linear accelerator of the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, in Berkeley (California). The researchers just mentioned were the ones who published the details of the synthesis of the chemical element as a result of a reaction between a Californium-249 target and Nitrogen-15 ions.

This chemical element is named after the Nuclear Research Center in Dubna, a Russian city. Its symbol is Db, its atomic number is 105 and it has an atomic mass of 262u, its melting point and boiling point are unknown. This element has chemical properties similar to those of Tantalum.

Interestingly, when it was discovered, Russian scientists wanted to name it Nielsbohrio and, for their part, the Americans wanted to call it Hahnium, both names did not have international recognition.

It is a transactinide element that does not exist in nature, since it is produced synthetically, it is radioactive, and 12 unstable isotopes are known, with half-disintegration periods between 1.3 and 24 seconds, of which 268-Db is the which presents greater stability, having a half-life of about 32 seconds, can disintegrate by spontaneous fission.

The production of element 261-105 occurred in two ways: one by bombardment of 250-Cf with N-15, as already mentioned, and by bombardment of 249-Bk with O-16, the latter isotope emitting alpha particles of 8, 93 MeV and decays to 257-Lr in about 1.8 seconds.

Being synthetic, it is only produced in the laboratory by bombardment in linear particle accelerators and its quantities are very small. Its actual usefulness is unknown, as it has so far only been used for scientific research and development.

Dubnium is a very unstable element, any amount that is prepared will quickly decompose into other elements. For this reason, there is no reason to conduct studies of its effects on human health. Likewise, due to its short half-life, it is considered that it does not cause any adverse effect on the environment.

Characteristics of Dubnium

Its symbol: Db
Atomic number: 105
Atomic mass: 262 (g/mol)
Its electronic configuration: [Rn]5f146d37s2