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Meitnerium
Mt 109

Meitnerium

Meitnerium is a synthetic chemical element; it has symbol Mt and atomic number 109. It is named in honor of Austrian physicist Lise Meitner, who co-discovered nuclear fission. Meitnerium was first synthesized in 1982 by a team at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research. It is an extremely radioactive synthetic element with a half-life of only 4.5 seconds for its most stable known isotope, meitnerium-278. It has no known practical applications.

Transition Metal eb0026
Atomic number 109Z
Atomic mass 278u
Valence e⁻ 2
Electron config. 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p6 5s2 4d10 5p6 6s2 4f14 5d10 6p6 7s2 5f14 6d7
Density
37.4g/cm³
Melting point
—
Crustal abundance
—
Annual production
—
Recycling rate
0%(Synthetic element (Z=109); no recycling)

Why This Element

Meitnerium is the first supertransition metal in group 9. No stable isotopes. No commercial applications. Mt-277 is the longest-lived (1.6 h, 2009 discovery) — enabling more detailed chemical studies.

Applications

Research

Applications in DepthElement & compound uses

Main Uses of the Element

Meitnerium is the 109th superheavy element, first synthesized in 1982 by the GSI Darmstadt team in Germany by bombarding bismuth-209 with iron-58 ions, and named after physicist Lise Meitner. All of its known isotopes have half-lives of a second or less, it does not occur in nature, and only a few atoms are produced per synthesis. It has no industrial uses and is studied only for nuclear structure and superheavy-element research.

Key Compounds and Their Uses

The chemistry of meitnerium has been explored only in single-atom gas-phase adsorption experiments, used to infer its similarity to group 9 transition metals such as iridium. No weighable meitnerium compound has ever been isolated, and no practical applications exist.

Element History

Discovered in 1982 at GSI Darmstadt by Armbruster and Münzenberg via bombardment of bismuth-209 with iron-58 ions — meitnerium-266 was identified. Named for Lise Meitner, the Austrian physicist who interpreted nuclear fission and discovered protactinium.

Related Elements

Sc · Scandium Ti · Titanium V · Vanadium Cr · Chromium Mn · Manganese Fe · Iron Co · Cobalt Ni · Nickel

Frequently Asked QuestionsLong-tail Q&A · data-driven

What is the density of Meitnerium?
37.4 g/cm³
What are the atomic number and category of Meitnerium?
109 · Transition Metal
Which ore is Meitnerium mainly extracted from?
None (synthetic)
What are the main uses of Meitnerium?
Meitnerium is the first supertransition metal in group 9. No stable isotopes. No commercial applications. Mt-277 is the longest-lived (1.6 h, 2009 discovery) — enabling more detailed chemical studies.
Who discovered Meitnerium and when?
Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung · 1982