Have you ever wondered what lies on the blue planet we live on? The ubiquitous air, the earth, and even the chemical elements, the most basic units of all things, have a surprising side. Let's talk about the elements that you and I are familiar with, such as gold, silver, copper, and iron, which have been known since ancient times, or calcium, zinc, iron, etc., which are very important to the body, do they make people feel very familiar when they appear, after all, they surround us all the time?
But did you know that in the 85th position of the periodic table, there is a guy that you and I may never see in our lives - Astatine. Why? Why do you ask it? Because it's one of the rarest elements even in history! According to scientists' estimates, as a member of the earth, its content in the earth's crust is only one part per billion billion.
Then again, how did such a rare element come to be discovered?
Let's get to the bottom of the question, did anyone predict it before people discovered it? The answer is, of course. Do you think, in the 19th century, the famous chemist Mendeleev drew the first periodic table according to the periodic law of the elements, which contained all the known chemical elements. In this table, there are still some gaps, and he suggests that these gaps are probably new elements that have not yet been discovered at that time.
Interestingly, it was indeed Mendeleev's prediction that these vacancies were filled one by one. For example, he predicted the two vacancies between aluminum and silicon as "aluminum-like" and "silicon-like" elements, and sure enough, four years later, gallium was found, followed by germanium. You see, the prophet does have a different sixth sense!
This prophecy played a key role in the discovery of astatine. At that time, people simply called astatine "eka-iodine", which roughly means "the next iodine". So everyone was looking for it everywhere in nature, but the result was to pounce. Isn't this strange? If Mendeleev hadn't first put forward the "vacancy" conjecture at that time, how could people have made up their minds to look for it? Isn't this kind of scientific attitude of tracing the root cause worth emulating?
Decades have passed, and scientists have gained a deeper understanding of the structure of atoms. They discovered that the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom determines the fundamental properties of an element. In that case, what is so difficult about finding astatine? Isn't it enough to "make" a nucleus of 85 protons directly in the laboratory?
Easier said than done. Because raw materials are too scarce, the cost of making astatine by conventional "bombardment" is too high and it is simply unrealistic. In 1940, Professor Emilio Segre finally used a cyclotron to bombard bismuth atoms with alpha particles, successfully synthesizing this extremely rare element. Of course, due to the instability of astatine, its half-life is extremely short, so people have given it a special figurative name - "unstable".
See, scarcity is the biggest motivator for the discovery of astatine. It was because people were so fascinated by it that they had to find out what they wanted to do in the lab at any cost, and finally got their wish. It has been proven that astatine is even rarer than imagined. This discovery only satisfies human curiosity, and as for what it will be useful for real life, it is up to the scientists to ask.
At the end of the day, the significance of discovering a new element is not just about how promising it is. At present, the technology is already very advanced, and if there is a similar demand, we will definitely be able to find a way to produce it manually. However, we often explore each of nature's mysteries not to benefit from them, but to solve their mysteries and thus increase our knowledge and understanding of the material world. Today we explore astatine, and tomorrow there will be new puzzles waiting for us to solve. In this way, if we persist in seeking the truth and have the courage to explore the unknown, the frontiers of science will continue to be promoted, and won't it be very meaningful?
From this incident, we can also see that the insatiable curiosity of human beings is the driving force behind the progress of knowledge. The spirit of tireless search by scientists at home and abroad, just as we are pursuing in various fields today, is all for a kind of yearning and puzzle solving for the unknown. So, every seemingly small discovery can become the cornerstone of the next big breakthrough. We should learn from this spirit with an open mind, and keep an open and inclusive mind to explore the unsolved mysteries, rather than being arbitrary, which will only lead us deeper and deeper.
Speaking of which, do you feel that the story of the discovery of astatine is full of inspiration and significance? In short, let's wait and see, maybe one day this "little patron" who fell from the sky will bring us unexpected surprises!
Disclaimer: The information in this article comes from the Internet, which is not guaranteed to be completely correct and is for reference only.