Radon is one of the noble gases in the periodic table. It is the heaviest, naturally occurring one among them. Due to its size, it is the most likely to establish compounds with other elements, compared to the other noble gases. However, its radioactivity easily breaks the bonds that are established between Radon and other elements. Thus, Radon has very few known compounds.

Radon forms in the radioactive decay chain of Uranium, which then forms Thorium, then Radium, and finally Radon. Radon condenses to form a solid that glows with yellow light due to its radioactivity. The half-life of Radon changes depending on the isotope at hand, but the longest half-life detected is around 92 hours.

Radon naturally occurs underground, and does not dissolve much in water or other liquids there. When it leaks above surface in the form of gas, it tends to accumulate in the not-well-ventilated parts of the houses, e.g. basements. Exposure to Radon gas is linked with cancer, and so it is considered as a health hazard. On the other side, the hot springs that contain trace amounts of Radon gas are used rarely to cure heart disease.

The following is an allegorical story in the form of a letter about how Radon develops in nature.

I am the only survivor from a quadruplet. One of my sisters survived only 108 minutes after birth. The death of the second one followed about half hour later. I spent my childhood with my only remaining sister. Our mother was not there either, because she had died while giving birth to us.

As we were growing into our adolescence, we shared many secrets with my sister, be them adventurous or romantic. She was a sister, a close friend, and sometimes a mom. When she died in her flourishing age, I not only lost my third sister but also lost a mom for the second time.

Since then, without bothering myself whether they are friend or foe, I let people approach me. I show affinity to them so much so that I am considered as the most sociable noble. When they start enjoying the beauties displayed on me, I am stressed by my need of privacy and security. And, I easily push everyone away by intimidating them with the very beauties they were attracted to.

So, life has been a bottomless solitude for me… Yes, being alone is part of being noble, and I need my privacy in my ivory tower. But I’d rather not have impenetrable walls between me and people.

What a discrepancy! I have a habit of intimidating people to push them away, but I am complaining from an endless solitude at the same time… Why am I like this? It feels as if there is an unknown person in me, over which I have no control, who is doing things using my body. Should I cry for help: I am stolen!

I thought about this a lot. Was it a psychological inheritance I received from the family? You know that my mother died when giving birth to me and that my sisters followed her. My grandmother also died when giving birth to my mother, and my grand-grandmother died when giving birth to my grandmother. I don’t know if it is this strangeness that makes me instinctively seek solitude, so much so that my husband could not stand me. I told him that our relationship could only survive in the polar cold places, and he said he can stay cold but not in a place where there is no one else. Eventually, our marriage ended, after which I realized that I was pregnant.

But life goes on, you know, whether you are a noble who pathetically seeks solitude, or if your mother died when giving birth to you, or if you are a pregnant mom left to herself… “The great gears of life turn with irresistible momentum. You either keep pace with it, or get smashed in it.” That’s what my mother said in her letter to me. And that letter is all I have of her. Though, however much I would like her to be with me, and share my joys of success and sorrows of failure. Maybe she would reveal precious life lessons to me, or whisper her secrets into my ear. Maybe she would reprimand me sometimes… Not a single moment lived with her, not even a smack… I wished that this not be the lot of my baby, but how?

I thought of Prophet Abraham’s wife, Hagar. Alarmed by her baby’s cries, she had rushed between two distant hills in search of finding some people to come for help. God had replied to her efforts by creating a spring in the middle of the desert, just near her, and guiding travelers there.

Following Hagar’s example, I tried taking refuge near people so that my baby would not be in a lonely world. In order not to disturb them, I chose their least used places. But people cast me out of there, lest I contract some illness. I tried fancy yellow dresses to make myself look friendly. But, instead of becoming friends, they put me in glass chambers. I tried to help people with some of their diseases, but except a few, they shunned me since I was too risky to be adopted into medical practice.

Oh my God, despite all my efforts, my baby was going to come into a solitary world like her mom’s. I knew I was going to be alone when giving birth, and so was my baby. There was a sour smile on my face every time I thought of her…

But maybe… Maybe one day, God would guide travelers here, and she could join them, and prosper wherever she ends up with. Maybe she would have a stable family, and become the mother of many. And I hope, even in her well-established state then, she could still keep her lineage at heart, from our grandest grandmother all the way down to her mother: Uranium, Thorium, Radium, and, me, Radon.

What could I do to make sure that my daughter holds on to her past? Could I write a letter, just like my mother left to me? Maybe that was a good option, since I inherited from my mother all the letters left from mother to daughter starting with the grandma Uranium. Yes, I could abide by the tradition of letters, and tell my daughter how much I loved her even before I could hold her in my arms. I could tell her that she had appeared in my dark night like a bright star, although she was yet in my womb. Maybe this way, she could feel at ease when with people, unlike her mother. She could make real friends and be happy with them, even if I won’t see her once.

Yes, I won’t see you, sweetie. It is what the doctors told while giving me your glad tidings: that I had cancer, and that my body would not sustain a birth. I had to choose between carrying you and a life without you. I chose to live with you, my precious, even if that meant the end of my life when yours bloomed. When you are going to be reading this letter, I’ll be watching you with your aunts. Shine and make us smile with your beauty.

Love,
Your mom Radon

The periodic table is a grouping of elements (atoms) of similar characteristics. It came about primarily as a result of the work of the Russian chemist Dimitri Ivanovich Mendeleyev (1834-1907). The elements in the table form 18 groups (columns), side by side, and 7 periods (rows), one under the other. To use a metaphor: with this discovery, the last four owners have taken their places in the apartment building of elements, which consists of 118 flats. The new elements have a total of 114 friends, 92 of which are found in nature.

For now, the 113th element is known as (Uut), the 115th element as (Uup), the 117th element as (Uus), and the 118th element as (Uuo); names are still being sought for them. Elements can be named after the team who discovered them, a mythological idea, a mineral, a name of a place, or the name of a famous figure in science history.

Let’s get to know the four new elements, which were obtained by the work of Russian, American, and Japanese scientists. These elements are produced in a laboratory, like 22 other artificial elements. They are not found in nature. Though we say they’re artificially produced, they aren’t created from scratch; they’re obtained from the reactions of other elements. In other words, the possibilities of their existence are limited by the properties given to the elements that cause them to come into existence.

These elements come into being through radioactive reactions triggered in specialized labs. These four elements, which are synthetic and radioactive, are in the 7th period. They cannot be seen with the naked eye and they are degraded in a time period shorter than a second.

The new elements

113th element (Uut): The element is obtained by the chain radioactive reaction of the element dubnium (Db) and has an atomic number of 113 and an atomic weight of 284. Since the study was carried out by Kosuke Morita and his team at the Riken Institute in Japan, they will be the eponyms of this element.

115th element (Uup): This element, discovered in Russia, has a proton number of 115 and an atomic weight of 289. It was obtained by the fusions [1] of the elements americium (Am) and calcium (Ca). This and the 117th element have been discovered in studies conducted in various laboratories in Russia and the United States [2].

117th Element (Uus): This element was obtained by the radioactive fusion reactions between calcium (Ca) and berkelium (Bk). It has the atomic number 117 and an atomic weight of 284.

118th element (Uuo): The proton number of this last element is 118 and the atomic weight is 294. It was obtained as a result of studies done in institutes in Russia and in the United States [3]. It was obtained by the fusion of the elements californium (Cf) and calcium (Ca).

Mendeleyev had predicted that the periodic table would eventually be filled with new elements to be found in the future. If he was alive today, perhaps he would be the most delighted scientist, as his predictions proved right. He was the famous chemist who discovered that the proton numbers of the elements were not just random numbers but continued in a sequential fashion, with no jumps in between. The point that we have arrived at today confirms Mendeleyev’s belief that we have the periodic table of elements complete with the atomic numbers starting from 1 to 118, without any gaps.

The question remains: can there not be more elements? Today’s scientific world says that the inner elements of the push-pull balance in the nucleus of an atom, such as the weak nuclear force [4] and strong nuclear force [5] do not allow this. The proton, neutron, and electrons, which are atomic sub-particles, carry the properties of smaller sub-particles, such as quarks and leptons, which make up these particles. We can thus say that the one who created inner forces in the atom can only be the creator of the smallest particles. That is, only the one who created these forces can set the limits for whether more elements can occur or not. Everything living and inanimate in the universe is made up of atoms; we can thus say that the creator of quarks and leptons is the creator of the physical world.

After all, the physical and chemical properties of all beings are related to the atoms that form them. It can be estimated that the characteristics of the atoms were given in the first few seconds of the Big Bang. This means that all the elements were created, with all their necessary pieces, nearly 14 billion years ago.

Here’s a thought experiment. Imagine if oxygen had been created in the liquid state rather than gas. Or what would happen if the atoms that form water produced a solid under normal conditions? What would the universe look like today? Would the conditions for life have been met? Would any of us be here?

Let’s give another example about metals: which elements would be metal or non-metal was decided at the very beginning of the universe. This is important: the physical and chemical properties of the metals we use are different from each other. If this were not the case, metals would have a very limited use in human societies. Suppose there were no iron or aluminium: how would we build a ship? If we used other metals – say, a metal with a high density, such as Osmium (Os) – then the ship wouldn’t float. A ship made of another semi-lightweight metal, such as lithium (Li), might float and move faster, due to its low density. But another feature of lithium is that it is very active. It is so active that a ship made of lithium would react with the water and explode as soon as it made contact. If a gold (Au) or platinum (Pt) ship were built, it would probably float for hundreds of years. But it is impossible to find the funding for such a ship.

Even one small difference in the elements could have completely changed how the entire universe functions.  Everything was designed with a superb order at the atomic level, even to the level of subatomic particles. One must ask how this perfect design came into being.

The elements were precisely created according to how human beings would need them, in what state, and with which physical and chemical characteristics. Perhaps it will be proved that the new elements will have strategic functions in the future. Whatever their fate, their existence is further proof of the universe’s perfect order.

Notes

[1] Fusion: The process of combining two elements as a result of nuclear reactions to form a heavier element
[2] Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
[3] Russia’s Joint Institute for Nuclear Research and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the US.
[4] Weak nuclear force affects proton and neutron sub-particles
[5] Strong nuclear force allows the proton and neutrons in the atomic nucleus to stay together.

References

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35220823
• http://www.webelements.com