A Visual Encyclopedia of the Periodic Table

151

The Carbon Group

Flerovium

Fl

114

because it absorbs radiation. It is

also used in weights for diving, car

batteries, and bendy “flashings”

for sealing roofs. Lead fell out of

favour because it turned out to

be poisonous.

Flerovium takes

its name from the

Russian scientist

Georgy Flerov. He

founded the Joint

Institute for Nuclear

Research in Dubna,

Russia, where this

element was first

produced in a particle

accelerator (a machine

in which atoms are

smashed together).

Flerovium is highly

radioactive and its

atoms last for only

a few seconds before

breaking apart.

This machine

produces flerovium

by smashing

together atoms

of calcium and

plutonium.

Georgy Flerov

Particle accelerator at Joint Institute

for Nuclear Research, Dubna, Russia

114 114 175

State: Solid

Discovery: 1999

Flashings,

or “lead sheets”,

cover exposed

corners on roofs

to make them

waterproof.

These pale cr ystals

on the galena are

a calcium mineral.

This pure form

of the metal has

a dull grey colour.

Pure strip of lead refined

in a laborator y

Flashings

150-151_Lead_Flerovium.indd 151 12/12/16 6:15 pm