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Columbia Encyclopedia entry: astatine

Astatineăs'tətēn,–tĭn [Gr.,=unstable], semimetallic radioactive chemical element; symbol At; at. no. 85; at. wt. of most stable isotope 210; m.p. 302°C (estimated); b.p. 337°C (estimated); density unknown; valence believed to be +1, +3, +5, or +7. Astatine is the heaviest known halogen (Group 17 of the periodic table). Its chemical properties are believed to be similar to those of iodine. The most stable isotope, astatine-210, has a half-life of 8.3 hr. More than 30 isotopes of astatine have been identified. Small amounts of astatine exist in equilibrium with uranium and thorium in the earth's crust, but the total amount of astatine is probably less than 1 oz. Astatine-211 (half-life 7.21 hr) is sometimes used as a radioactive tracer; like iodine, it collects in the thyroid gland. The discovery of astatine (first called alabamine) was announced in 1931 by Fred Allison and E. J. Murphy. In 1940, Emilio Segré, D. R. Corson, and K. R. Mackenzie produced astatine-211 by bombarding bismuth-209 with alpha particles in the cyclotron at the Univ. of California.

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Astatine is a radioactive chemical element with the symbol At and atomic number 85. It is the heaviest of the discovered halogens. Although astatine is produced by radioactive decay in nature, due to its short half life it is found only in minute amounts. Astatine was first produced by Dale R. Corson, Kenneth Ross MacKenzie, and Emilio Segrè in 1940. Three years passed before traces of astatine were also found in natural minerals. Until recently most of the physical and chemical characteristics of astatine were inferred from comparison with other elements. Some astatine isotopes are used as alpha-particle emitters in science applications, and medical...more »

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Periodic Table of the Elements: Astatine
Periodic Table of the Elements: AstatineAtomic Number:85Atomic Symbol:AtAstatineAtomic Weight:(210)ElectronConfiguration:2 · 8 · 1832 · 18 · 7
At
At, symbol for the element astatine.
synthetic elements
Synthetic elements, in chemistry, radioactive elements that were not discovered occurring in nature but as artificially produced isotopes. They are technetium (at. no. 43), which was the first...
halogen
Halogen [Gr.,=salt-bearing], any of the chemically active elements found in Group 17 of the periodic table; the name applies especially to fluorine (symbol F), chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), and...
Elements (table)
ElementsElementSymbolAtomic NumberAtomic Weight1Melting Point(Degrees Celsius)Boiling Point(Degrees Celsius)1 Parentheses indicate most stable isotope.actiniumAc89227.02781050.3200....

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