Astatine (At)
"The Ghostly Tracer: A super-speedy, almost mythical hero who leaves a radioactive fingerprint, here and gone in a blink."
A memorable persona to anchor At in your mind.
7
Grams per cm³
300
Celsius (°C)
202
Radius (pm)
Daily Life Link
As fleeting and rare as spotting a shooting star in broad daylight.
Discovery & History
Year Discovered
1940
Discovered By
Dale R. Corson, Kenneth R. MacKenzie & Emilio Segrè
Origin of Name
"The name comes from the Greek ''astatos'', meaning unstable."
Technical Properties
Atomic Mass
[210] u
Standard State
solid
Boiling Point
350°C
Electron Configuration
[Xe] 4f145d106s26p5
1st Ionization Energy
9.5 eV
Electron Affinity
N/A
Oxidation States
"A dark, possibly metallic solid, but good luck getting a glimpse!"
Did You Know?
Forget finding a needle in a haystack; finding Astatine in nature is like finding a specific atom in the entire universe – it's the *rarest naturally occurring element* on Earth!
Its name is a total spoiler! 'Astatine' comes from the Greek word 'astatos,' literally meaning 'unstable' – and believe me, it lives up to its name!
Every single Astatine isotope is a speed demon of decay! Its most stable isotope, Astatine-210, still has a half-life of only 8.1 hours – that's lightning fast in the element world!
Hold onto your protons: at any given moment, the *entire Earth's crust* contains less than 28 grams (about one ounce) of naturally occurring Astatine! That's less than a single chocolate bar!