hassium

views updated May 29 2018

hassium (symbol Hs) Synthetic, radioactive transactinide element. It is a very unstable element that is produced by high-energy atomic collisions. It was discovered in 1984 by German physicists Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg. Named after the Latin Hassia for ‘Germany’, it was formerly named hahnium. Properties: at.no. 108; r.a.m. 277.