Naked Science Forum

Non Life Sciences => Chemistry => Topic started by: pirunner on 08/12/2007 04:06:58

Title: Technetium - What's the deal!?
Post by: pirunner on 08/12/2007 04:06:58

It is very obvious to see on a Periodic Table that the heaviest metals tend to be unstable and therefore radioactive. That said...WHAT'S UP WITH TECHNETIUM?? It is #43 on the Table and has no stable isotope. No element around it is in any way similar. Why is it not found in nature and WHY 43? It seems to me that this completely random number should replace 13 as the universal "unlucky" number (especially since Aluminum -#13- seems to be a very happy, useful, and relatively common element).

Title: Technetium - What's the deal!?
Post by: Kryptid on 08/12/2007 16:32:10

Wikipedia's article on technetium actually addresses this issue. Here's a link to that section: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technetium#Stability_of_technetium_isotopes