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Roentgenium
Rg 111

Roentgenium

Roentgenium is a synthetic chemical element; it has symbol Rg and atomic number 111. It is named in honor of German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen, the discoverer of X-rays. Roentgenium was first created in December 1994 by a team at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research. It is an extremely radioactive element; its most stable known isotope, roentgenium-282, has a half-life of 130 seconds. It has no known practical applications outside of scientific research.

Transition Metal
Atomic number 111Z
Atomic mass 282u
Valence e⁻ 2
Electron config. 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p6 5s2 4d10 5p6 6s2 4f14 5d10 6p6 7s2 5f14 6d9
Density
28.7g/cm³
Melting point
—
Crustal abundance
—
Annual production
—
Recycling rate
0%(Synthetic element (Z=111); no recycling)

Why This Element

Roentgenium is the first supertransition metal in group 11. Rg-281 and Rg-282 (produced 2010 at Dubna with hours-long half-lives) enable more detailed chemical studies, testing relativistic effects on group 11 properties.

Applications

Research

Applications in DepthElement & compound uses

Main Uses of the Element

Roentgenium is the 111th superheavy element, first synthesized in 1994 by the GSI team in Germany by bombarding bismuth-209 with nickel-64 ions, and named after physicist Wilhelm Röntgen. Its isotopes have extremely short half-lives, 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 superheavy-element chemistry.

Key Compounds and Their Uses

The chemistry of roentgenium has been studied only in single-atom experiments, used to test the influence of relativistic effects on superheavy-element electronic structure. No weighable roentgenium compound has ever been isolated, and no practical applications exist.

Element History

Discovered in 1994 at GSI Darmstadt via bombardment of bismuth-209 with nickel-64 ions — roentgenium-272 (1.6 ms half-life) was identified. Named for Wilhelm Röntgen, who discovered X-rays in 1895 and won the first Nobel Prize in Physics.

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 Roentgenium?
28.7 g/cm³
What are the atomic number and category of Roentgenium?
111 · Transition Metal
Which ore is Roentgenium mainly extracted from?
None (synthetic)
What are the main uses of Roentgenium?
Roentgenium is the first supertransition metal in group 11. Rg-281 and Rg-282 (produced 2010 at Dubna with hours-long half-lives) enable more detailed chemical studies, testing relativistic effects on group 11 properties
Who discovered Roentgenium and when?
Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung · 1994