Bohrium is a radioactive research element created in reactions involving bismuth and chromium nuclei. Its discovery depended on detecting individual nuclear events. That evidence concerns atoms and their decay; it does not establish the appearance or mechanical properties of a macroscopic sample.
FROM ELEMENT TO APPLICATION
AN ELEMENT IN CONTEXT
How did a volatile bohrium compound test a periodic prediction?
Bohrium oxychloride in gas-phase experiments
FOLLOW THIS RELATIONSHIP
Choose a specific compound family
Bohrium oxychloride research compares a heavy group 7 compound with lighter relatives. Naming the compound family makes the periodic expectation more specific than a general statement about a metal.
Explore the model (optional)
BhFORM → INTERACTION → CONSEQUENCE
Follow the explanation in either direction. These are authored steps, not a physical clock.
Optional: check your understanding
USE THE EXPLANATION
What makes this a stronger test than comparing table positions?
Atomic identity, reference properties and structure models
INTERACTIVE 3D107 visible sites
An electron censusDrag to rotate · scroll or pinch to zoom
[Rn] 5f14 6d5 7s2. Grouping electrons by principal shell connects the neutral-atom configuration to periodic-table patterns.
What this representation means
A three-dimensional counting diagram. Dots are count markers, not measured electron positions; spherical placement and spacing are arbitrary. There are no electron trajectories here. Orbitals describe quantum states.
For superheavy elements, this configuration is a theoretical assignment. It does not establish measured bulk chemistry or a material state.
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HISTORY & HUMAN DISCOVERY
Bohr’s name at the limit of chemical experiments
Bohrium was established at GSI in Darmstadt in 1981 after earlier work had suggested possible evidence for element 107. Its final name honors Niels Bohr and was adopted in the 1997 naming settlement. The discovery relied on nuclear signals, but subsequent chemical experiments pursued a separate test: whether an extremely short-lived atom would form a volatile compound resembling those of its lighter group 7 relatives.
Bohrium is made artificially in accelerator experiments. No natural occurrence or commercial material supply has been established. Studies depend on individual radioactive atoms whose identities are recovered from their signatures, so the useful sample is a sequence of observations rather than a conventional amount of solid material.
The listed neutral configuration is predicted, while chemical experiments have investigated a volatile bohrium oxychloride. That evidence supports group 7 comparisons with technetium and rhenium under the tested conditions. It does not justify assigning measured bulk metallic properties or assuming that every predicted bohrium compound has already been observed.
Each section links its supporting references. Descriptions and diagrams were authored for this atlas. Source checks completed. Source checks dated 2026-09-06.
CITE THIS PAGE
Family labels and the group-3 layout are teaching conventions. A table position does not establish an unknown bulk property. Electronic configurations refer to neutral atoms; ions and material environments require their own account.
Read each reference property together with its units, conditions and the reference information below.
Not yet recorded: electron affinity, second ionization energy, ground-state term symbol, van der waals radius, thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, electrical resistivity, crystal structure, lattice parameter a, space group, abundance in seawater, abundance in the universe, annual production, supply-risk listing, hazard classification, biological role, cas registry number, pubchem cid, wikidata item. These families are declared and awaiting an ingestion run against the source each names; they are listed here rather than shown as empty rows.
Physical
Intended reference: CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics · CRC Press
Phase at 20 °C
Not recorded
293.15 K, 101.325 kPa
Melting point
Not recorded
at standard pressure unless noted
Boiling point
Not recorded
101.325 kPa
Density
Not recorded
solids and liquids at 293 K; gases at 273 K and 101.325 kPa
Atomic and electronic
Intended reference: Pauling electronegativity scale · Widely tabulated; original in The Nature of the Chemical Bond
Electronegativity
Not recorded
Pauling scale
First ionization energy
Not recorded
gas-phase neutral atom, ground state
Covalent radius
Not recorded
single-bond covalent radius
Common oxidation states
Not recorded
states met in ordinary compounds; not exhaustive
Occurrence and identity
Intended reference: CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics · CRC Press
Abundance in the crust
Not recorded
upper continental crust, mass fraction
Has stable isotopes
Noderived
Discovery year in CE
1981 CEderived
WHERE IT SITS AMONG ITS NEIGHBORS
Electronegativity across period 7
Ra 0.9 Pauling · Radium
Electronegativity across period 7. Exact values.
Ra
0.9
Ac
1.1
Th
1.3
Pa
1.5
U
1.38
Np
1.36
Pu
1.28
Am
1.13
Cm
1.28
Bk
1.3
Cf
1.3
Es
1.3
Fm
1.3
Md
1.3
No
1.3
Lr
1.3
Electronegativity down group 7
Mn 1.55 Pauling · Manganese
Electronegativity down group 7. Exact values.
Mn
1.55
Tc
1.9
Re
1.9
The trend uses the same reference-property values as the periodic table. Elements with no recorded value are left out of the line rather than drawn at zero.
