Meitnerium (Eka-Iridium) is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Mt and atomic number 109. It is a synthetic element whose most stable isotope is Mt-266 with a half-life of 3.4 ms.

History

Meitnerium was first synthesized on August 29, 1982 by a German research team led by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg at the Institute for Heavy Ion Research at Darmstadt.
The team did this by bombing a target of bismuth-209 with accelerated nuclei of iron-58. The creation of this element demonstrated that nuclear fusion techniques could be used to make new, heavy nuclei.

The name meitnerium was suggested in honor of the Austrian-Swedish physicist and mathematician Lise Meitner, but there was an element naming controversy as to what the elements from 101 to 109 were to be called; thus IUPAC adopted unnilennium (symbol Une) as a temporary, systematic element name. However in 1997 they resolved the dispute and adopted the current name.

External links

• WebElements.com - Meitnerium (http://www.webelements.com/webelements/elements/text/Mt/index.html)
• EnvironmentalChemistry.com - Meitnerium (http://environmentalchemistry.com/yogi/periodic/Mt.html)
• Apsidium - Meitnerium (http://www.apsidium.com/elements/109.htm)