Tennessine was created using a berkelium-249 target and a calcium-48 beam through an international collaboration. It occupies group 17, but its bulk properties are not established by that placement. The discovery shows how isotope production, chemical separation, acceleration, and detection can depend on one another.
FROM ELEMENT TO APPLICATION
AN ELEMENT IN CONTEXT
Why is making a target isotope different from identifying tennessine?
Tennessine nuclei in synthesis and decay experiments
FOLLOW THIS RELATIONSHIP
Recognize the target’s contribution
A suitable target isotope makes the production experiment possible. Its preparation is an essential research contribution, but possession of the target is not itself evidence that tennessine has been produced.
Explore the model (optional)
TsFORM → INTERACTION → CONSEQUENCE
Follow the explanation in either direction. These are authored steps, not a physical clock.
Optional: check your understanding
USE THE EXPLANATION
Which evidence answers whether the candidate product is tennessine?
Atomic identity, reference properties and structure models
INTERACTIVE 3D117 visible sites
An electron censusDrag to rotate · scroll or pinch to zoom
[Rn] 5f14 6d10 7s2 7p5. 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.
Loading reference properties…
HISTORY & HUMAN DISCOVERY
A rare target and an international discovery
Tennessine was established in 2010 through an international collaboration combining accelerator experiments at Dubna with essential isotope-production contributions from Oak Ridge and other partners. The scarce berkelium target connected years of preparatory work to the brief events seen by . Discovery recognition came in 2015 and naming in 2016. The name honors Tennessee’s research contributions, while its ending reflects placement in the halogen group.
2010
Discovery evidence
An international collaboration establishes element 117.
2016
Name approved
Tennessine, Ts, is approved after recognition in 2015.
Tennessine is produced artificially in accelerator experiments and has no established natural material resource. Its discovery depended on specially prepared berkelium material. The resulting radioactive atoms are observed individually; the successful experiment does not create an ordinary supply of halogen substance comparable to a bottle of bromine or iodine.
The neutral configuration is predicted. Although tennessine is assigned to group 17, its electron affinity and bonding behavior require relativistic calculations and cannot simply be copied from iodine. Nuclear is experimentally observed, while a familiar-looking halogen or a full catalog of tennessine compounds has not been established.
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
2010 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 17
F 3.98 Pauling · Fluorine
Electronegativity down group 17. Exact values.
F
3.98
Cl
3.16
Br
2.96
I
2.66
At
2.2
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.
