Oganesson and CRYPTOCURRENCIES?!

“Make ends meet”. This is yet another common catch-phrase used across the world. Often used to describe situations whereby one has financial independence to pay for necessities in life. However, this phrase if analysed literally means getting to the end, and that is what we are going to talk about in this article. In Chemistry, our official “currency” (model) remains as the periodic table, and without it, there would not be many “transactions” (reactions) occurring around us. One of the most least regarded elements right there includes the Oganesson. Yes, you pronounced it right, it is Oh-gehh-nes-son. Little is known about this artificially produced element, however, we can be sure that it is a member of the noble gas group due to its ‘on’ suffix. Positioned in the 118th place of the periodic table, it is radioactive, and is yet to make some revolutionary changes in the world. This element has been introduced very recently in the 21st century, just like the recently hyped Bitcoin Cryptocurrency. Side note: I apologise if you might hate these ‘Cryptocurrency-makes-you-successful’ marketing gigs going extensively viral right now. However, I can assure you that our chemistry tutor will be happy to share with students his opinion on Oganesson as well as Cryptocurrencies (if you would like).

Chemical properties of Oganesson

This element, first discovered in 2002, has one known isotope, 294Og with a half-life of 0.89 milliseconds. Although widely recognised as a noble gas, its periodicity of chemical properties has been disrupted due to some other extremely heavy elements. This brings us to the question of whether this Oganesson is just like its other family members. Due to its short life period and small quantity, this question has not yet been answered experimentally. However, with this information, our chemistry tutor could share his opinions to students on how they could become future scientists to aid this discovery. Making new inventions is still a dream for many young tots. As the clock is ticking, there has already been some research conducted by a team in New Zealand and the United States, about the element’s electronic structure. They have predicted that it is a very unusual kind of atom. Similarly, there are many types of such unusual atoms that schools don’t teach students as part of the curriculum. Join our chemistry tuition to find out more!

Background Experiments on Atoms

The leader of the Russian-American team’s name is Yuri Oganessian, and our element is well named after him. This team had initially bombarded atoms of californium-249 and calcium-48 atoms together to produce a few nuclei with atomic mass 294. Later in 2011, researchers at the GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research had advised on the possible discovery of 295Og but had not been confirmed. Recent advances in computer modelling suggest that much more stable isotopes of Oganesson may have atomic masses as high as 313. Who knows? Our chemistry tutor could possibly guide our students if they become part of the future team to coordinate this invention. Our chemistry tuition is nothing less than an investment of good effort, and a hopeful future.

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