by Aaron Basic Information History Compounds and Biology Uses Bibliography Glossary

"California Tc, it's THE Tc"

Basic Information Technetium is in group 7 and period 5 of the periodic table. It has an atomic number of 43 and an atomic mass of 97.9. It is highly radioactive with 43 electrons, 43 protons, and 55 neutrons. It is a solid metal that usually is found in a powdery substance. It is a silver, gray metallic color that is in a solid state at 298 k. The chemical symbol of Technetium is Tc. Tc tarnishes slowly in moist air. Tc is the most stable isotope because its energy levels are the most complete of any element. Tc would look like platinum if it were produced in that form. Technetium resembles a cross between manganese, Mn and Rhenium Re. Ironically, Tc is directly above Re and directly below Me on the periodic table.

History In 1937, Tc was discovered by Carlo Perrier, Emilio Segre in Italy. Its name comes from the Greek word technikos meaning artificial. It was reported being discovered many times and none of which could be supported with evidence. Segre and Perrier were the first. Tc was the first synthetically produced element. Segre and Perrier took a sample of molybdenum and bombarded it with deuterons in a cyclotron. This sample was highly radioactive and the biggest challenge for the two scientists was that they only had a microscope to work with! The sample was sent from a lab in Berkeley, California where the cyclotron was located.

Compounds and Biology Technetium tarnishes slowly in air. When heated with oxygen it makes technetium heptoxide, Tc2O7. Tc is most reactive as a powder which is its most common form. Tc does not react with water under normal conditions. When it is heated with fluorine the result is a mixture. Tc does dissolve in warm bromine water. Tc is insoluble in hydrochloric acid. It dissolves in nitric acid otherwise known as sulfuric acid. Here you can see what is referred to as a cyclotron which is what was used to bombard materials forming the first Tc substance (this was all done in Berkeley, California)

Uses Technetium has a few uses. The most significant of the uses is that is a major used element in hospitals worldwide. Tc is not only the main source of radiation for hospitals but can save lives as well. If a chemical compound of Tc-99m is injected into a patient's veins, the isotope will concentrate in certain body organs and its radioactivity will expose a photographic plate, revealing how those organs are functioning. The m in the 99 is a symbol meaning that the isotope is in an unstable form. Also, Tc-99m will bind very tightly and strongly to the heart muscle. In the presence of tin, Tc binds very strongly to red blood cells. Tc-99m can provide the image of heart so that a doctor can examine and asses the damage done during a heart attack! Since its half life is only slightly over 6 hours it provides plenty of time to do a procedure yet in the next 24 hours, it will be completely gone (from the human body)! Technetium may not be the most common element but it saves lives and makes the jobs of doctors everywhere easy.

Bibliography Web Elements (text and images) Stwetska, Albert A Guide to the Elements Oxford University Press. New York 1998 Online Dictionary Google Animation Factory Heiserman, David L. Exploring Chemical Elements and their Compound Division of Mcgraw-Hill, Inc. Pennsylvania 1992 Photoshop 6.0 (graphic designer)

Glossary atomic mass-the mass of an atom usually expressed in atomic mass units atomic number-an experimentally determined number characteristic of a chemical element that represents the number of protons in the nucleus which in a neutral atom equals the number of electrons outside the nucleus and that determines the place of the element in the periodic table bromine-a nonmetallic halogen element that is isolated as a deep red corrosive toxic volatile liquid of disagreeable odor chemical symbol-The one or two letter symbol for each element on the Periodic Table of Elements. cyclotron-an accelerator in which charged particles (as protons, deuterons, or ions) are propelled by an alternating electric field in a constant magnetic field deuterons-an isotope of hydrogen that has one proton and one neutron in its nucleus and that has twice the mass of ordinary hydrogen electrons-an elementary particle consisting of a charge of negative electricity fluorine-a nonmetallic halogen element that is isolated as a pale yellowish flammable irritating toxic diatomic gas hydrochloric- an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride HCl that is a strong corrosive irritating acid, is normally present in dilute form in gastric juice, and is widely used in industry and in the laboratory insoluble-not soluble isotope-any of two or more species of atoms of a chemical element with the same atomic number and nearly identical chemical behavior but with differing atomic mass or mass number and different physical properties Mn- a grayish white usually hard and brittle metallic element that resembles iron but is not magnetic molybdenum-a metallic element that resembles chromium and tungsten in many properties, is used especially in strengthening and hardening steel, and is a trace element in plant and animal metabolism neutrons-an uncharged elementary particle that has a mass nearly equal to that of the proton and is present in all known atomic nuclei except the hydrogen nucleus nitric-a corrosive liquid inorganic acid HNO3 used especially as an oxidizing agent, in nitration's, and in making organic compounds (as fertilizers, explosives, and dyes) Periodic table of elements-the scientific chart arranged by atomic number showing the elements and their information protons-an elementary particle that is identical with the nucleus of the hydrogen atom, that along with neutrons is a constituent of all other atomic nuclei, that carries a positive charge numerically equal to the charge of an electron radioactive-the property possessed by some elements (as uranium) or isotopes (as carbon 14) of spontaneously emitting energetic particles (as electrons or alpha particles) by the disintegration of their atomic nuclei Re- a rare heavy metallic element that resembles manganese, is obtained either as a powder or as a silver-white hard metal, and is used in catalysts and thermocouples sulfuric-of, relating to, or containing sulfur especially with a higher valence than sulfurous compounds synthetic- attributing to a subject something determined by observation rather than analysis of the nature of the subject and not resulting in self-contradiction if negated